Living things are classified using a modern version of the so-called "Linnaean Classification," named after Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné 1707-1778).
The system, which is subject to constant modification in response to new data, is based in a hierarchy of categories ranging from the most general (kingdom) to the most specific (subspecies). The following table displays the system of ever more specific categories that locate human beings in this system. The terms in boldface are the most important to the logic of the system.
| Category Name | Animal Form | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animals (animalia) | not plants |
| Subkingdom | Metazoans (metazoa) | not protozoa |
| Branch | Coelomates (coelomata) | not sponges &c. |
| Phylum (branch) | Chordates (chordata) | not insects, worms, &c. |
| Subphylum | Vertebrates (vertebrata) | creatures with spines |
| Class | Mammals (mammalia) | not fishes, amphibians, reptiles, or birds |
| Subclass | Placental Mammals (placentalia) | not marsupials; |
| Order | Primates | Click me. |
| Infraorder 1 | Lemurs (lemuriformes) | |
| Infraorder 2 | Tarsiers (tarsii) | |
| Infraorder 3 | Platyrrhine monkeys (platyrrhini) | New World monkeys |
| Infraorder 4 | Catarrhine monkeys (catarrhini) | Old World monkeys, apes, people (all with close, down-pointing nostrils) |
| Superfamily 1 | Cercopithecoids (cercopithecoidea) | = Old World monkeys |
| Superfamily 2 | Hominoids (hominoidea) = Hominids and Pongids (apes) | (Caution Hominoids are collectively often called "apes" even though "apes" also refers specifically to pongids!) |
| Family 1 | Hylobatids (hylobatidae) | = lesser apes |
| Family 2 | Pongids (pongidae) | = orangs (Click me.) |
| Family 3 | Hominids (hominidae) | = Homo + Australopithecus + gorillas + chimps |
| Subfamily 1 | Gorillas & Chimps | = great apes (minus orangs) |
| Subfamily 2 | Hominines (homininae) | = Australopithicus + Homo |
| Genus (plural: genera) | Humans (Homo) | Remember: It is customary always to write the genus name with a capital letter and the species name with a lower-case letter. |
| Subgenus (or species) 1 | Homo habilis | |
| Subgenus (or species) 2 | Homo erectus/ergaster | "Java Man," "Peking Man" &c. Click me. |
| species) 3 | Homo heidelbergensis | = Homo rhodesiensis |
| Species 4 | Homo sapiens | = modern humans |
| Species 5 | Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) | = Neanderthals only Click me. |
| Species 6 | Homo antecessor | = pre-Neanderthals in Spain |
| Species 7 | Homo floresiensis | ="dwarf" forms in Indonesia |
