Species and Taxonomy

Question 1

how to tell organisms are in the same species

Answer 1

if they can interbreed in their natural habitat and produce fertile offspring

Question 2

courtship in animals:

Answer 2

is a behaviour that eventually results in mating and reproduction
courtship can play a major role in species recognition

Question 3

what is the phylogenetic system

Answer 3

the phylogenetic system of taxonomy arranges organisms into groups based on their evolutionary origins and relationships

Question 4

under the phylogenetic classification system:

Answer 4

-there is a hierarchy of groups, in which smaller groups are places within larger groups
-there is no overlap between groups
-each group is called a taxon

Question 5

grouping organisms in this way is helpful for several reasons:

Answer 5

-scientists can communicate clearly
-knowledge that relates to one species can often be partially applied to other closely related species
-it allows scientists to gain an accurate count of the number of species, which is useful for conservation purposes

Question 6

one hierarchy comprises the taxa:

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Eukarya

Answer 7

is the domain of all eukaryotes, distinguishable from Bacteria and Archaea which are both prokaryotic domains

Question 8

binomials:

Answer 8

are the scientific name of a species

Question 9

what have advances in genome sequencing and immunology has allowed scientists to…

Answer 9

further investigate the evolutionary relationships between species

Question 10

three types of sequence data are used to investigate evolutionary relationships:

Answer 10

-DNA
-mRNA
-Amino acids

Question 11

what is sequencing technology especially useful for

Answer 11

comparison with an extinct species (using ancient DNA) or when distinguishing between species that are very physically similar

Question 12

for all types of sequence data it can be said that…

Answer 12

the more similar the sequences the more closely related the species are

Question 13

sequence analysis and comparison can be used to…

Answer 13

create family trees that show the evolutionary relationships between species

Question 14

Method for immunology techniques:

Answer 14

-pure albumin samples are extracted from blood samples taken from multiple species
-each pure albumin sample is injected into a different rabbit
-each rabbit produces antibodies for that specific type of albumen
-the different antibodies are extracted from the different rabbits and are then mixed with the different albumin samples
-the precipitate (antibody-antigen complexes) resulting from each mixed sample is weighed

Question 15

Results and interpretation:

Answer 15

-the greater the weight of the precipitate, the greater the degree of the complementarity between the antibody and albumin
-for example, antibodies produced against human albumin will produce a larger amount of precipitate when exposed to chimpanzee albumin that when exposed to rat albumin because humans are more closely related to chimpanzees