Summary:
- The evolution of life on Earth over the past 4 billion years has resulted in a huge variety of species.
- For more than 2,000 years, humans have been trying to classify the great diversity of life.
- The science of classifying organisms is called taxonomy.
- Classification is an important step in understanding the present diversity and past evolutionary history ofLife on Earth.
- All modern classification systems have their roots in the Linnaean classification system.
- It was developed by Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus in the 1700s.