Video Transcript
Carl Linnaeus classified organisms
into two distinct groups. What were these groups?
In order to answer this question,
we’ll first recall that the classification of organisms is a science that’s existed
since ancient times. Scientists today use genetic
information to classify organisms based on evolutionary relationships. But as early as Aristotle,
scientists were grouping organisms together based on observable characteristics. Today, we often refer to the
five-kingdom system of classification developed by Robert Whittaker. His kingdoms of life included
monera, protist, plant, fungi, and animal.
But Carl Linnaeus is often credited
with coining the term kingdoms for these types of groups. He classified all things, living
and nonliving, into three kingdoms: animal, vegetable, and mineral. But our question is asking us
specifically about how Linnaeus classified organisms or living things. Linnaeus’s two kingdoms for
organisms were the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom.
