The Taxonomy of Animals

Pictured above: a short-haired Boston Terrier, a black widow spider, a goldfish, and a Swedish human being from the 18th century: Carl Linnaeus.

To listen to my podcast, The Taxonomy of Animals, follow this link: http://www.garageband.com/go/6TPMU5RSJ9

Hello, this is Leonard. I hope you found my Taxonomy podcast informative (and perhaps even enlightening!). Since making this recording, I realized there is at least one set of animals that can't be grouped under just one category. This animal is... the human being! For this species, we have to classify them on a case by case basis:

Bullies? A bully would be an evil animal. Babies? A baby would be a cute animal. My social studies teacher, Mr. Berhalter, would be a boring animal-- while Swedish botanist and Father of Taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus would be a cute animal (judging from the picture).

Dogs are the only other species I can think of that defy being lumped under one category of animals. Consider the diversity of canine temperament featured in this short list: Rottweiler? Pitbull? These will be evil animals. Beagle? Chihuahua? Golden Retriever? These will be cute animals. As for boring dogs... the only truly boring dog is the dog who looks like a mop (and probably just sleeps all day in a bucket).

Right: a mop dog going for a walk.







Left: a mop dog just laying there.


If you look at the entire Animal Kingdom, you will see I have only classified a minute percentage of the total number of animal species! So, if you need help figuring out where your favorite (or least favorite) animal would fit into my system, you can leave me a message below and I will give you my opinion of where your animal belongs.