species and taxonomy

Question 1

what is meant by classification?

Answer 1

organisation of organisms into groups

Question 2

what is meant by taxonomy?

Answer 2

the practice of biological classification

Question 3

what is meant by a taxon?

Answer 3

a group within the classification system

Question 4

what is meant by a species?

Answer 4

organisms that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring

Question 5

what is meant by phylogenetic?

Answer 5

based on evolutionary history

Question 6

what is meant by hierachical?

Answer 6

large groups split into smaller groups with no overlap between them

Question 7

what is the order of taxonomic groups?

Answer 7

domain
kingdom
phylum
class
order
family
genus
species

Question 8

what is different about a genus vs kingdom?

Answer 8

genus- small group of organisms who share a common ancestor not far back in evolutionary history

kingdom- larger group that shared a common ancestor far back

Question 9

how do we write a binomial name?

Answer 9

genus and species

genus name has capital letter, species all lower case

written in italics or underlined

if the species part is unknown, it can be written as ‘sp.’

Question 10

what is a phylogenetic group/relationship?

Answer 10

grouping according to evolutionary relationships and common ancestors

Question 11

what is the rule for phylogenetic trees?

Answer 11

the closer the branches, the closer the evolutionary relationship

Question 12

what are the two main forms of biological classification?

Answer 12

artificial classification and phylogenetic classification

Question 13

what things does artificial classification look at?

Answer 13

differences that are useful at the time e.g. colour, size, number of legs

these are described as analogous characteristics where they have the same function but not same evolutionary origin

Question 14

what is phylogenetic classification based on and how does it work?

Answer 14

-based on evolutionary relationships between organisms and their ancestors

-classifies species into groups using shared features derived from their ancestors

-arranges groups into hierarchy, in which the groups are contained within larger composite groups with no overlap

Question 15

what is courtship behaviour a necessary precursor to?

Answer 15

successful mating

Question 16

what does courtship behaviour enable individuals to do? (5)

Answer 16

1. recognise members of their species- to ensure fertile offspring are produced
2. identify a mate that is capable of breeding- both partners need to be sexually mature, fertile and receptive to mating
3. form a pair bond- that will lead to successful mating and raising of offspring
4. synchronise mating- so it takes place when there is maximum probability of sperm and egg meeting
5. be able to approach each other closely without triggering aggression

Question 17

who uses courtship behaviour and why?

Answer 17

males to determine whether females are in the receptive stage (when producing eggs)

if the female responds with appropriate behavioural response, courtship continues and is likely to result in production of offfspring

Question 18

why is courtship behaviour described as a stimulus-response chain?

Answer 18

during courtship, the make typically carries out action to communicate with potential mate of own species

the action acts as a stimulus for female, who responds with a specific action of her own, and this response is a stimulus to male to carry out further action

this is a stimulus-response chain

if at any point one of the pair fails to respond appropriately, then the courtship sequence ends