Taxonomic Categories

 

Kingdom: Animal.  This is a category that contains all animals, living or extinct.

Phylum: Chordata.  This group has all vertebrate animals, meaning some sort of spine or backbone.
Class: Mammalia.  This labels all warm-blooded chordata who have some sort of hair, lived off milk in their early years, and usually give live birth.
Order: Artiodactyla.  This defines mammals with even-numbered hind foot toes and asymmetrical third part of each foot, along with a another.
Suborder: Ruminantia.  This is artiodactyla that have four stomachs.
Family: Giraffidae.  This family consists of ruminatia that are in the natural family of giraffes.
Genus: Giraffa camelopardalis.  These giraffidae have spotted bodies and short horns called ossicones.
Genus: Okapi.  This genus contains only the species of okapi.
Species: Okapia johnstoni.  This is what you're learning about!

 

 

Left picture: a giraffe,

the closest related animal to an

okapi.  They seperate at the 

genus of Okapia johnstoni.

 

Right picture: a zebra, what 

many people compare okapi

markings to.  The relation stops

at the family giraffidae.