Name ______#______

Reading a Classification Table Practice

Thinking Critically

The table below shows the complete classification of several species of animals. Use the table to answer the questions that follow.

Organism / House cat / Red Fox / Dog / Wolf / Gopher / Fly
Kingdom / Animalia / Animalia / Animalia / Animalia / Animalia / Animalia
Phylum / Chordata / Chordata / Chordata / Chordata / Chordata / Arthropoda
Class / Mammalia / Mammalia / Mammalia / Mammalia / Mammalia / Insecta
Order / Carnivora / Carnivora / Carnivora / Carnivora / Rodentia / Diptera
Family / Felidae / Canidae / Canidae / Canidae / Geomyidae / Muscidae
Genus / Felis / Vulpes / Canis / Canis / Thomomys / Musca
Species / domesticus / fulva / familiaris / lupus / bottae / domestica

1. What is the scientific name for the house cat?

2. What is the scientific name for the gopher?

3. What is the scientific name for the red fox?

4. What kind of animal is Vulpes velox? How do you know?

5. What is the complete classification of Vulpes fulva?

6. What is the complete classification of Vulpes velox?

7. From the table, which two animals are most closely related? Explain.

8. At what classification level does the evolutionary relationship between gophers and house cats diverge?

9. How does the table indicate that a dog is more closely related to a red fox than to a house cat?

Name ______#______

Reading a Classification Table Practice-Key

Thinking Critically

The table below shows the complete classification of several species of animals. Use the table to answer the questions that follow.

Organism / House cat / Red Fox / Dog / Wolf / Gopher / Fly
Kingdom / Animalia / Animalia / Animalia / Animalia / Animalia / Animalia
Phylum / Chordata / Chordata / Chordata / Chordata / Chordata / Arthropoda
Class / Mammalia / Mammalia / Mammalia / Mammalia / Mammalia / Insecta
Order / Carnivora / Carnivora / Carnivora / Carnivora / Rodentia / Diptera
Family / Felidae / Canidae / Canidae / Canidae / Geomyidae / Muscidae
Genus / Felis / Vulpes / Canis / Canis / Thomomys / Musca
Species / domesticus / fulva / familiaris / lupus / bottae / domestica

1. What is the scientific name for the house cat? Felis domesticus

2. What is the scientific name for the gopher? Thomomys bottae

3. What is the scientific name for the red fox? Vulpes fulva

4. What kind of animal is Vulpes velox? How do you know? Probably a fox because it has the same genus as the red fox

5. What is the complete classification of Vulpes fulva?
Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Carnivora, Canidae, Vulpes, fulva

6. What is the complete classification of Vulpes velox?
Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Carnivora, Canidae, Vulpes, velox

7. From the table, which two animals are most closely related? Explain.

Dog and wolf because they have the most levels of classification in common.

8. At what classification level does the evolutionary relationship between gophers and house cats diverge? Order

9. How does the table indicate that a dog is more closely related to a red fox than to a house cat? Dog and fox have one level of classification more in common than the cat.