A brief explanation of how Animal Classification works( for the average guy)

Scientists never agree on much of anything, so there are several accepted Plant and Animal Classification systems. Most of us don’t even know what the names of those classification systems mean, let alone understand the structure of them, so we are just going to use a simplified dummied up system the average common man can understand.

How we categorize Mother Nature

The best known taxonomy classification system is credited to a Swedish botanist named Carl Linnaeus, who made it popular in 1757 and it is still considered mostly accurate today.

Only Linnaeus didn’t figure this system out at all, he just popularized the idea of giving each animal or plant species a two-part name, with one part indicating the genus, and the second part the species. Linnaeus’ taxonomy system was based on work done by Aristotle, who came up with a multi-ranked system in 347 BCE. Scientists often refer to this system as taxonomy.

The Linnaean taxonomic system is quite useful as a classification system. Not only does it provide official names for every plant and animal, it also helps scientists understand how objects are related to one another.

This basic taxonomy system is constantly evolving as scientists figure out what scientists before them thought before isn’t strictly correct, and new plants and animals are discovered which fill in some of the missing information in the evolutionary tree,  so the sytem is constantly getting revised and new taxonomy systems develop as one smart guy presents his ideas of how it should go and more scientist types begin to think maybe he’s right and agree with him.

  • Monotremes (prototheria): echidnas and platypus
    • Platypus
    • Echidnas (tachyglossids)
  • Live-bearing mammals (theria)
    • Marsupials
      • Australodelphia: Australian marsupials and monito del Monte
        • Monito del Monte
        • Dasyuromorphs
          • Dasyurids: antechinuses, quolls, dunnarts, Tasmanian devil, and allies
          • Numbat
        • Peramelemorphs: bilbies and bandicoots
          • Bilbies (thylacomyids)
          • Bandicoots (peramelids)
        • Marsupial moles (notoryctids)
        • Diprotodonts
          • Koala
          • Wombats (vombatids)
          • Phalangerids: brushtail possums and cuscuses
          • Pygmy possums (burramyids)
          • Honey possum
          • Petaurids: striped and Leadbeater’s possums, and yellow-bellied, suger, mahogany and squirrel glider
          • Ringtailed possums (pseudocheirids)
          • Potorids: potoroos, rat kangaroos and bettongs
          • Acrobatids: feathertail glider and feather-tailed possum
          • Musky rat-kangaroo
          • Macropodids: kangaroos, wallabies and allies
      • Ameridelphia: New World marsupials except monito del Monte
        • Opossums (didelphids)
        • Shrew opossums (caenolestids)
    • Placentals
      • Atlantic placentals (atlantogenatans)
        • Afroplacentals (afrotherians)
          • Afroinsectiphilians: elephant shrews, tenrecs, otter shrews, golden moles, and aardvark
            • Elephant shrews (macroscelidids)
            • Afrosoricids: tenrecs and golden moles
              • Tenrecids: tenrecs and otter shrews
              • Golden moles (chrysochlorids)
            • Aardvark
          • Paenungulates: hyraxes, elephants, dugongs and manatees
            • Hyraxes or dassies (procaviids)
            • Elephants (elephantids)
            • Sirenians: dugong and manatees
              • Dugong
              • Manatees (trichechids)
        • Xenarthrans
          • Pilosans: sloths and anteaters
            • Anteaters (vermilinguans)
              • Silky anteater
              • Myrmecophagids: giant anteater and tamanduas
            • Sloths (folivorans)
              • Three-toed sloths (bradypodids)
              • Two-toed sloths (megalonychids)
          • Armadillos (dasypodids)
      • Northern placentals (boreoeutherians)
        • Supraprimates (euarchontoglires)
          • Euarchontans: treeshrews, colugos and primates
            • Treeshrews (scandentians)
              • Tupaiids: all treeshrews except pen-tailed
              • Pen-tailed treeshrew
            • Colugos or flying lemurs (cynocephalids)
            • Primates
              • Strepsirrhines: lemur- and loris-like primates
                • Lemur-like primates (lemuriforms)
                  • Cheirogaleids: dwarf lemurs and mouse-lemurs
                  • Aye-aye
                  • True lemurs (lemurids)
                  • Sportive lemurs (lepilemurids)
                  • Indriids: woolly lemurs and allies
                • Loris-like primates (lorisiforms)
                  • Lorisids: lorises, pottos and allies
                  • Galagos (galagids)
              • Haplorhines: tarsiers, monkeys and apes
                • Tarsiers (tarsiids)
                • Anthropoid primates
                  • New World monkeys (platyrrhines)
                    • Callitrichids: marmosets and tamarins
                    • Cebids: capuchins and squirrel monkeys
                    • Aotids: night or owl monkeys
                    • Pitheciids: titis, sakis and uakaris
                    • Atelids: howler, spider, woolly spider, and woolly monkeys
                  • Catarrhines
                    • Old World monkeys (cercopithecids)
                    • Hominoid primates
                      • Gibbons (hylobatids)
                      • Great apes (hominids): incl. Humans
          • Glires: pikas, rabbits, hares, and rodents
            • Lagomorphs: pikas, rabits and hares
              • Leporids: rabbits and hares
              • Pikas (ochotonids)
            • Rodents
              • Anomalure-like rodents (anomaluromorphs): Scaly-tailed squirrels and springhares
                • Scaly-tailed squirrels or anomalures (anomalurids)
                • Springhares (pedetids)
              • Beaver-like rodents (castorimorphs)
                • Beavers (castorids)
                • Gopher-like rodents (geomyoid rodents)
                  • Pocket or true gophers (geomyids)
                  • Heteromyids: kangaroo rats and kangaroo mice
              • Porcupine-like rodents (hystricomorphs)
                • Laotian rock rat
                • Gundis (ctenodactylids)
                • Hystricognaths
                  • African mole rats (bathyergids)
                  • Old World porcupines (hystricids)
                  • Dassie rat
                  • Cane rats (thryonomyids)
                  • Cavy-like rodents (caviomorphs)
                    • Chinchilla rats (abrocomids)
                    • Hutias (capromyids)
                    • Cavies (caviids): incl. Guinea pigs and capybara
                    • Chinchillids: chinchillas and viscachas
                    • Tuco-tucos (ctenomyids)
                    • Agoutis (dasyproctids)
                    • Pacas (cuniculids)
                    • Pacarana
                    • Spiny rats (echymyids)
                    • New World porcupines (erethizontids)
                    • Myocastorids: nutria and coypu
                    • Octodonts (octodontids): Andean rock-rats, degus and viscacha-rats
              • Mouse-like rodents (myomorphs)
                • Dipodids: jerboas and jumping mice
                • Muroid rodents
                  • Mouse-like hamsters (calomyscids)
                  • Cricetids: hamsters, New World rats and mice, voles
                  • Murids: true mice and rats, gerbils, spiny mice, crested rat
                  • Nesomyids: climbing mice, rock mice, white-tailed rat, Malagasy rats and mice
                  • Spiny doormice (platacanthomyids)
                  • Spalacids: mole rats, bamboo rats, and zokors
              • Squirrel-like rodents (sciuromorphs)
                • Mountain beaver
                • Doormice (glirids)
                • Squirrels (sciurids): incl. chipmunks, prairie dogs, and marmots
        • Laurasian placentals (laurasiatherians)
          • Hedgehogs (erinaceids)
          • Soricomorphs: moles, shrews, solenodons
            • Shrews (soricids)
            • Moles (talpids)
            • Solenodons (solenodontids)
          • Ferungulates: ungulates, cetaceans, bats, pangolins and carnivorans
            • Cetartiodactyls: camels, swine, cetaceans, hippos, and ruminants
              • Camelids: camels and llamas
              • Swine (suinans): pigs and peccaries
                • Pigs (suids)
                • Peccaries (tayassuids)
              • Cetruminantians: cetaceans hippos and ruminants
                • Cetancodonts: Cetaceans and hippos
                  • Cetaceans: Whales, dolphins and porpoises
                    • Baleen whales (mysticetes)
                      • Balaenids: right whales and bowhead whale
                      • Rorquals (balaenopterids)
                      • Gray whale
                      • Pygmy right whale
                    • Toothed whales (odontocetes)
                      • Dolphins (delphinids)
                      • Monodontids: beluga and narwhal
                        • Beluga
                        • Narwhal
                      • Porpoises (phocoenids)
                      • Sperm whale
                      • Kogiids: pygmy and dwarf sperm whale
                      • River dolphins (platanistoid whales)
                        • Iniids: Amazon and Bolivian river dolphin
                        • La Plata dolphin
                        • Platanistids: Ganges and Indus river dolphins
                      • Beaked whales (ziphids)
                  • Hippos (hippopotamids)
                • Ruminantiamorphs: chevrotains, pronghorn, giraffes, musk deer, deer, and bovids
                  • Chevrotains (tragulids)
                  • Pecorans
                    • Pronghorn
                    • Giraffids: giraffe and okapi
                    • Musk deer (moschids)
                    • Deer (cervids)
                    • Bovids: cattle, goats, sheep and antelope
            • Pegasoferans: bats, odd-toed ungulates, pangolins and carnivorans
              • Bats (chiropterans)
                • Megabats (pteropodids)
                • Microbats (microchiropterans)
                  • Sac-winged or sheath-tailed bats (emballonurids)
                  • Rhinopomatoid bats
                    • Mouse-tailed bats (rhinopomatids)
                    • Bumblebee bat or Kitti’s hog-nosed bat
                  • Rhinolophoid bats
                    • Horseshoe bats (rhinolophids)
                    • Hollow-faced or slit-faced bats (nycterids)
                    • False vampires (megadermatids)
                  • Vesper bats or evening bats (vespertilionids)
                  • Molossoid bats
                    • Free-tailed bats (molossids)
                    • Pallid bats (antrozoids)
                  • Nataloid bats
                    • Funnel-eared bats (natalids)
                    • Sucker-footed bats (myzopodids)
                    • Disc-winged bats (thyropterids)
                    • Smoky bats (furipterids)
                  • Noctilionoid bats
                    • Bulldog or fisherman bats (noctilionids)
                    • New Zealand short-tailed bats (mystacinids)
                    • Ghost-faced or moustached bats (mormoopids)
                    • Leaf-nosed bats (phyllostomids)
              • Zooamatans: odd-toed ungulates, pangolins and carnivorans
                • Odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls)
                  • Horses (equids)
                  • Ceratomorphs
                    • Tapirs (tapirids)
                    • Rhinoceroses (rhinocerotids)
                • Ferans
                  • Pangolins or scaly anteaters (manids)
                  • Carnivorans
                    • Cat-like carnivorans (feliforms)
                      • African palm civet
                      • Feloid carnivorans
                        • Asiatic linsangs (prionodontids)
                        • Cats (felids)
                      • Viverroid carnivorans
                        • Viverrids: civets and allies
                        • Herpestoid carnivorans
                          • Hyaenids: hyenas and aardwolf
                          • Malagasy carnivorans (euplerids)
                          • Herpestids: mongooses and allies
                    • Dog-like carnivorans (caniforms)
                      • Canids: dogs and allies
                      • Arctoid carnivorans
                        • Bears (ursids)
                        • Musteloid carnivorans
                          • Red panda
                          • Mephitids: skunks and stink badgers
                          • Mustelids: weasels, martens, badgers, wolverines, minks, ferrets and otters
                          • Procyonids: raccoons and allies
                        • Pinnipeds
                          • Walrus
                          • Otariids: sea lions, eared seals, fur seals
                          • True seals (phocids)

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