There have been many attempts to classify living organisms since ancient times.
Aristotle was the earliest to attempt a scientific basis of classification. He used
simple morphological characters to classify plants as trees, shrubs and herbs. He
also classified animals into two groups, i.e., Enaima (with red blood) and
Anaima (without red A need for proper system Of classification was
always felt.
Living organisms need to be classified because of the following reasons
(i) The study of one or two organisms is not sufficient to know the essential
features of the group.
(ii) Classification helps in knowing the relationship amongst different groups
of organisms.
(iii) It helps in studying of the evolutionary relationship between organisms.
TYPES OF CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
Depending upon the types of system of classification, organisms are classified
into following kingdoms