Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store
seo-qna
SearchIcon
banner

What is the basic unit of classification.

Answer
VerifiedVerified
418.1k+ views
Hint: Taxonomy is the branch of biology that deals with classification of all organisms. It was first created by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus. His classification system is called the taxonomic hierarchy or Linnean hierarchy

Complete answer:
Species is the basic unit of classification.

Additional information:
A taxon is a group of organisms that are classified as a unit in the taxonomic hierarchy. There are seven main taxonomic ranks:
- Kingdom: kingdom is the highest taxonomic rank. The different kingdoms were Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia
- Phylum: Phylum is the next taxon after the kingdom. It is more clearly defined than kingdom.
- Class: Class was the most general rank proposed by Linnaeus. But now it is placed after phylum.
- Order: Order is more clearly defined than class. Some of Linnaeus’ orders are still used in the classification.
- Family: Family is much more clearly defined than order.
- Genus: Genus is, in turn, more clearly defined than family. It is the first part of an organism’s scientific name in the binomial nomenclature.
- Species: Species is the most specific major taxonomic rank. Species are sometimes divided into subspecies. In binomial nomenclature; the second part is the species name.

Note: Taxonomy aims to describe and organize life, the work conducted by taxonomists is essential for the study of biodiversity and the resulting field of conservation biology. Taxonomy helps in easing the vast diversity that is present in organisms and offers an easier hassle- free way to handle it.