Oooh, yesh!
I will use the grey wolf as an example.
Let’s start with domain: it is a eukaryote. That means that it’s cells will have defined organelles and it’s DNA will be encased in a nucleus.
Now, Kingdom: it is in animalia. This is easy: it is an animal!
Phylum next: Chordata. Wolves have backbones!
Next up is Class: Mammalia. Mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates that primarily give birth to live young (there are some exceptions tho).
Order up: Order Carnivora, that is! These are critters like dogs, cats, weasels and seals!
Family is up (stay with me): Canidae. This family includes our buddy the wolf as well as foxes and coyotes.
Genus is next to last: Canis. Now we’re getting to what you usually see with scientific names. In a scientific name, the genus will be capitalized and often abbreviated (in this case, Canis or C.).
Finally, Species: Lupus! Now we’re at the grey wolf in specific. In its scientific name, it will always be in full and italicized, but never capitalized (lupus-full name C. lupus).
Bonus: sub-species: lupus. This is for when y’all want to go even further (perhaps you wanna specify that this is a wolf and not a dog). This will clarify that. With the scientific name, it will follow the same rules as the species name (C.
lupus lupus in our running example).
thank you for listening to my basic explanation on taxonomy! I love the field.
