Identification And Taxonomy Flashcards
What can the identification of an organism in a sample be made using?
Classification guides
Biological keys
Analysis of DNA or proteins
What can organisms be classified by?
By both taxonomy and phylogenetics
Define taxonomy
Taxonomy involves the identification and naming of organisms and their classification into groups based on shared characteristics.
Classic taxonomy classification based on morphology:
kingdom -> phylum -> class -> order -> family -> genus -> species
Define Phylogenetics
It is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among individuals or groups of organisms.
It is changing the traditional classification of many organisms.
What heritable traits do Phylogenetics use?
Morphology
DNA sequences
Protein structure
Why do Phylogenetics use heritable traits?
To make inference about organism’s evolutionary history and create a phylogeny (or phylogenetics tree)- a diagrammatic hypothesis of its relationships to other organisms.
What can genetic evidence reveal?
Relatedness obscured by divergent or convergent evolution.
What does familiarity with taxonomic groupings allow?
Predictions and inferences to be made about the biology of an organism from better known (model) organisms.
What are examples of taxonomic groups?
Nematodes
Arthropods
Chordates
Definition of model organisms
Organisms that are either easily studied or have been well studied e.g. zebra fish
Information obtained from them can be applied directly to other species that are more difficult to study directly
What are examples of model organisms?
-bacteria e.g. E.coli
-flowering plant e.g. Arabidopsis thaliana
-the nematodes e.g. C elegans
-the arthropod e.g. Drosophila Melanogaster
-chordates e.g. mice, rats, zebrafish
What have model organisms been very important in?
The advancement of modern biology
What can the information obtained from model organisms be applied to?
Other species that are more difficult to study directly
