Classification

Classification makes this diversity manageable by arranging organisms into groups. Organisms placed in the same group share characteristics, and modern classification also aims to represent their evolutionary relationships.

Classification organises the enormous variety of living organisms into groups. It helps biologists identify organisms and communicate clearly, but it can also represent evolutionary relationships: organisms placed close together should share a more recent common ancestor than organisms placed far apart.

Classification places organisms into groups. It gives biologists an organised way to identify organisms, compare them and communicate about the variety of life. However, the way an organism is classified depends on which evidence is used and what the classification is intended to represent.

Classification arranges them into groups so that scientists can describe them and investigate how they are related. Organisms can be compared by their observable physical characteristics: for example, features of their bodies or cells. Those with many characteristics in common are more likely to be placed in the same group than organisms with few similarities.