Question

State any four benefits of animal classification.

Answer 1

Classification of animals was done by Linnaeus on the basis of their shared characteristics. They are placed in a hierarchy from division to species. It is done to study various aspects of animals.

Complete answer:
Benefits of animal classification:
1. Classification helps to identify the organisms.
2. It helps to establish relationships among various kinds of organisms.
3. It helps in studying the phylogeny and evolutionary history of organisms.
4. We can know about the whole group just by studying a few organisms.

Additional information:
Animal kingdom classification is an important aspect for understanding how the living organisms are related to each other. According to the Linnaeus method, species are arranged in groups according to their shared characteristics.
Aristotle was the earliest to attempt classification of species on the basis of morphological characters. He divided plants into trees, shrubs and herbs and animals into two groups, those which had red blood and those which did not. Later the classification system of animals was developed by Swedish botanist Carolus Von Linnaeus in 1700's. The Linnaeus Taxonomy creates a hierarchy of groupings, called taxa. Apart from this he also gave binomial nomenclature that gives each animal species a two - word to give it a scientific name. This method of giving scientific names to animals is typically rooted in Latin by combining the genus and species.
The more features that a group of animals share, the more specific that animal classification group is. Every species is grouped into 9 branches of categories. The primary method is classification is under:
1. Domain: It is the basis on which classification starts up.
2. Kingdom: It is the highest taxonomic category which categorizes it into plants and animal kingdom.
3. Phylum: It is a group in which animals are divided into smaller than kingdoms and larger than a class.
4. Class: A class comprises one or more orders.
5. Order: Order includes one or more related families.
6. Suborder: A taxonomic category that is a sub- division of order.
7. Families: It is a category which contains one or more genera. All the genera of a family have some common features.
8. Genus: A group of species having a close resemblance to one another in their morphological characters or reproductive parts is called a genus.
9. Species: It is the basic unit of taxonomic classification. It is a group of species that resemble each other in all major respects so that they look similar.

Note:
Linnaeus' system of classification was not perfect and natural. In later periods of his life, he stressed on the usage of the natural system of classification where instead of one, a group of characters are taken into consideration while classification.