Lesson 2 - Introduction to Taxonomy

Question 1

What is Classification?

Answer 1

• There are 1.6 million types of plants and animals, and 3-10 million organisms not identified
• Need to organize information
• Taxonomy – a branch of biology that names and groups organisms according to their characteristics and evolutionary history

Question 2

What is Taxonomy?

Answer 2

• Science of classifying organisms
• Has two main purposes:
• To identify organisms
• To represent relationships among them
• People who study ‘taxonomy’ are called
• Taxonomists
• Taxonomists use a system of classification for different organisms

Question 3

Who is Carl Linnaeus?

Answer 3

• Our present biological system of classification was developed by Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)
• Swedish botanist
• Was the first to use binomial nomenclature

Question 4

What is Binomial Nomenclature?

Answer 4

• Binomial nomenclature involves organizing an organism’s scientific name into a combination of two terms:
• These terms are the GENUS NAME and the SPECIES.
• Both of these terms are italicized, and the genus name is also Capitalized.

Question 5

What is the Two-Named System?

Answer 5

• The two-name system provides an advantage by indicating similarities in:
• Anatomy
• Embryology
• Evolution
• Example:
• North America black bear: Ursus americanus
• Grizzly bear: Ursus horribilis

Question 6

What are the Taxonomic Levels (8 Taxa)?

Answer 6

• Domain
  
  • Kingdom
    
    • Phylum
      
      • Class
        
        • Order
          
          • Family
            
            • Genus
              
              • Species

Question 7

What is the Phylogenetic Tree?

Answer 7

• The history of the evolution of organisms is called phylogeny
• Relationships are often shown in a type of diagram called a phylogenetic tree
• The tree shows the evolutionary relationships among various biological species
• It is based on similarities and differences in their

Question 8

What are the Six Kingdoms of Life?

Answer 8

• Organisms in each kingdom are similar in their cellular structure, methods of obtaining nutrients, and metabolism:
• Archaebacteria
• Eubacteria
• Protista
• Fungi
• Plantae
• Animalia

Question 9

What are the Three Domains?

Answer 9

• Domain Archaea
• Includes newly discovered cell types
• Contains 1 kingdom – the Archaebacteria
• Domain Bacteria
• Includes other members of the old kingdom Monera
• Has 1 kingdom – the Eubacteria
• Domain Eukarya
• Includes all kingdoms composed of organisms made up of eukaryotic cells: Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia