Gunpreet, Subject Matter Expert at Edumarz
Answer: Variations arise in living organisms due to sexual reproduction and errors in DNA copying. Over a period of time, these variations accumulate to become common traits in the population, and often give rise to new species. This is called evolution. Organisms of two closely related species have more characteristics in common. For example human beings and chimpanzees. Thus they are supposed to have evolved from the same ancestors. Similarly, organisms of one species are even more closely related, for example, human beings are more closely related to each other than chimpanzees. By observing these characteristics we can classify organisms. This is called classification. Classification is the arrangement of organisms in groups based on similarities and dissimilarities in their characteristics. Therefore, by classifying organisms, we can trace their evolutionary relationship. In this way, the two areas of study – ‘evolution’ and ‘classification’ are linked to each other.