![]() Use questions that lead to yes or no answers rather than statements.Be specific in your statements and avoid repeating the same characteristics.When writing contrasting statements, rely on similar word formats (i.e.Use major characteristics when dividing the organisms in the beginning and use lesser or less obvious characteristics to divide them into smaller groups.Use morphological or observable characteristics as much as you can.Consider only one characteristic at a time.If you think the questions in your dichotomous key needs to be rearranged, make the necessary adjustments. Focus on the specimen you are trying to identify and go through the questions in your dichotomous tree to see if you get it identified at the end. Once you have completed your dichotomous key, test it out to see if it works. Here you can use a tree diagram or a flowchart as in the examples below. You can either create a text-based dichotomous key or a graphical one where you can even use images of the specimen you are trying to identify. Continue to subdivide your specimen by asking enough questions until you have identified and named all of them. ![]() For example, first, you may have grouped your animals as have feathers and have no feathers, in which case the ones with feathers can be categorized as birds while you can further subdivide the ones that have no feathers as having fur and having no fur. The first differentiation should be made on the most general characteristic.īased on the next contrasting characteristic, divide the specimen further. has feathers and no feathers) or questions (does it have feathers?) to divide your specimens into two groups. So it helps to have identified the more obvious and less obvious contrasting characteristics among the specimen before creating your dichotomous key. When creating your dichotomous key, you need to start with the most general characteristics first, before moving to the more specific ones. Step 2: Organize the characteristics in order You may notice that some have feathers whereas others have legs, or some have long tails and others don’t. For example, say you are trying to classify a group of animals. ![]() List down the characteristics that you can notice. Pay attention to the specimens you are trying to identify with your dichotomous key. Organizing large amounts of information to make identification of an organism much easierīelow we have listed the steps you need to follow when creating a dichotomous key.Helping students easily understand harder scientific concepts.To easily draw connections between species to better establish proposed phylogeny create Cladograms. Most often, they are used to identify plant and animal species, although it can be used to classify any object that can be identified by a set of observable characteristics. It can be done in both a graphical (as a branching flowchart or written format - series of paired statements organized sequentially). the number of legs, weight, height, etc.) factors are considered. physical attributes such as how the organism looks, what color it is, etc.) and quantitative (i.e. When creating a dichotomous key, both qualitative (i.e. The further you divide the key, the more you learn about the specimen you are trying to identify. By correctly selecting the right choice at each stage, the user will be able to identify the name of the organism at the end. “Dichotomous” means divided into two parts, hence the dichotomous keys always present two choices based on the key characteristics of the organism in each step. Simply put, it is a method used to identify a species by answering a series of questions based on contrasting features (eg: physical characteristics) that have two possible outcomes. It’s the most commonly used form of classification or type of identification key used in biology as it simplifies identifying unknown organisms. people, animals, plants, bacteria, etc.) into specific categories based on their characteristics. Students and professionals use the dichotomous key to identify and classify objects (i.e. Download them as PNGs, JPEGs, SVGs or PDFs for publishing, printing, and sharing. Some examples are provided in the dichotomous key examples section you can use any template to start your project right away. ![]() In this simple guide, we will explain what is a dichotomous key and how to create one. It helps identify organisms by directing the user to look at the known organisms. With new species being discovered every day, it’s important to have techniques in place to identify and classify them. In the field of biology, classification plays a major role.
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