MediumBiologyHigh School (11–12)Diversity of Living Organisms › Taxonomic Hierarchy and AidsDiversity of Living Organisms › Classification of Living OrganismsConceptual
The house cat is Felis catus, the jungle cat is Felis chaus, and the leopard is Panthera pardus.
Contributed by StemPy LabTry it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
The house cat is Felis catus, the jungle cat is Felis chaus, and the leopard is Panthera pardus. Are the house cat and the jungle cat one species? Are they in one genus? Is the house cat in the same family as the leopard? Which rank has more similarities among its members: the genus or the family?
Need a reminder? The key ideaShow
The ranks from the smallest: species, genus, family, order, class, phylum (division in plants) and kingdom. A group at any rank is a taxon. Going up, a group holds more organisms that share fewer features. A species is a group with fundamental similarities, whose members can breed and have fertile young.
The worked solution
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. Species. No: the epithets catus and chaus differ.
Step 2. Genus. Yes: both are Felis.
Step 3. Family. Yes: Felis and Panthera are both in Felidae.
Step 4. More similar. The genus, because it is a smaller group inside the family, with members that share more features.
Answer: two species of one genus; all three are in Felidae; the genus holds more similar members.
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