Sorting by ancestry
Around the 18th century AD Carolus Linnaeus introduced a successful classification. What it rests on is the evolutionary relationships between organisms.
Natural classification
Classifying organisms in a way that represents their evolutionary relationships.
Here the morphological, physiological, cytological or molecular biological characteristics of organisms are considered — not only what can be seen from the outside.
What a natural classification does
- It reveals the natural relationships among organisms of one species.
- It explains the evolutionary relationships between different organisms.
| Artificial | Natural | |
|---|---|---|
| What is considered | External features, habitat | Morphology, physiology, cytology, molecules |
| Evolutionary relationships | Not represented | Represented |
| Birds and insects | May fall in one group | Fall in separate groups |
The more suitable system
What is more suitable for classifying living things is the natural classification system. It does not merely put organisms in order — it also tells you how they are related to one another.