What is Class?
Class comes from the latin classis and it is the rank of biological classification ranked above order and under phylum. It was first introduced by a French botanist called Joseph Pitton de Tournefort in his classification of plants that appeared in Eléments de Botanique, 1694. There are no specific rules that taxonomist need to follow when describing a class, but often a consensus must be reached for common species. Carolus Linnaeus popularized the term in his Systema Naturae (1735), where he divided all three of his kingdoms in classes, however only in the animal kingdom are Linnaeus' classes similar to the ones used today.
Fun Fact: Class was considered the highest level of the taxonomic hierarchy until the early 19th century.
Fun Fact: Class was considered the highest level of the taxonomic hierarchy until the early 19th century.
Meet the Ursus maritimusThis animal, also referred to as polar bear, belongs to the class mammalia.There are many characteristics that an organism must fit in order to belong to this class for example: being warm blooded, endothermic, having a four chambered heart, having mammary gland used to produce milk (only female glands are functional), and even having a well developed brain.
The word mammalia comes from the latin mamma, which refers to the fact that all female mammals nurse their young, except of course, for the five species of monotremes (egg-laying mammals). |
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