4 Genetic Information & variation- Species & taxonomy

Question 1

What defines organisms of the same species?

Answer 1

If they able to produce fertile offspring

Question 2

What are courtship behaviours?

Answer 2

Complex display that help an individual attract a mate, potential mates of the same species can be identified through courtship behaviours; they are species-species
-Individuals of the same species will have the same courtship behaviour and only those of the same species will respond to it
e.g. male peacocks having beautiful patterns on their tails to attract a female mate

Question 3

What do courtship behaviours enable individuals of a species?

Answer 3

-Recognise members of their own species
-Identify a male capable of breeding
-Synchronise mating
-Form a pair bond

Question 4

What are phylogenies and their uses?

Answer 4

-To understand the evolutionary relationship between organisms, can help classify organisms
-Based on the fact that all organisms share a common ancestor; more closely related organisms will share a more recent common ancestor

Question 5

What is a phylogenetic tree?

Answer 5

-Shows the evolutionary relationship between different species and their most recent common ancestor; each branch shows a different species
-The point that 2 branches join together is the common ancestor of the 2 species

Question 6

What is classification?

Answer 6

Involves the identifying, naming and sorting of organisms, in a process called taxonomy

Question 7

What are taxa?

Answer 7

-Closely related organisms are grouped together into groups (taxa)
-Phylogeny of organisms is important for determining which taxa they’re a part of

Question 8

What is a hierarchy?

Answer 8

-Each taxon is arranged into hierarchy
-Divides into smaller, more specific taxa at each level
-No overlap between taxa at same level (can only belong to one)

Question 9

What are the stages in a biological hierarchy?

Answer 9

Domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species

Question 10

What is the binomial system?

Answer 10

The naming system used in classification
Consists of the genus and species of an organism, always written in italics

Question 11

What are the techniques which help establish evolutionary relationships between species?

Answer 11

-Antigen-antibody interactions
Species produce specific antibodies that recognise foreign proteins. An organisms antibodies can be isolated & mixed with another organism’s proteins to see how many antigen-antibody complexes form; the more formed = more closely related

-Amino acid sequencing
Amino acids that make up proteins in an organism can be sequenced and compared to others; the more similar the sequences, the more closely related

-Genome sequencing
Base sequences of organisms can be sequenced and compared to others; the more similar the base sequences, the more closely related