The word Dichotomous comes from two Greek words that together mean,"divided in two parts". A Dichotomous key consists of a series of two part statements that describe the characteristics of organisms. At each step of a Dichotomous key the user is presented with two choices. As the user makes a choice about a particular characteristic of an organism they are led to a new branch of the key. Eventually the user will be led to name the organism that they are trying to identify.