In the early 1700s Linnaeus came up with a new system of classification of living things that eventually replaced the one that h
ad been used since Aristotle developed it in ancient Greece about 2000 years earlier. Why was a change necessary? A new system was needed to include the new species that had evolved since the original classification system was developed.
So many new species were being discovered, it was impossible to arrange them all in a hierarchy based on relative complexity of species.
The correct response to the question above is that a significant number of new species were being identified, making it unfeasible to classify them all in a hierarchy based on their complexities. The development of classification systems began with Aristotle around 360 B.C., where he categorized organisms into two main groups: plants and animals. Following Aristotle, Theophrastus and others attempted various classifications, but it was Carolus Linnaeus in 1735 who devised a classical system that categorized organisms similarly into plants and animals. Over the span of 2000 years from Aristotle to Linnaeus, significant changes in classification occurred, prompted by advancements in science and the introduction of new species that needed to be integrated into the system. This necessity fostered the development of a novel approach to classifying organisms.
