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Mystery #1Tier 1classification family tree

Why do scientists bother sorting millions of living things into neat groups?

There are millions of different living things on Earth, from tiny ants to towering trees. Scientists carefully sort them all into groups, cats here, beetles there. It looks like tidying up a very messy cupboard. But why bother, what could neat groups possibly tell us that a jumble cannot?

Trays of animal bones laid out on top of a museum specimen cabinet with handwritten drawer labels.
Photo: Andrea Michelbach · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

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