Species and Taxonomy Flashcards
(20 cards)
What is a species
An organism that belongs to the same species if they are able to interbreed to produce living, fertile offspring.
Members of the same species need to be able to distinguish eachother
How do the same species recognise each other
Courtship behaviour e.g fly’s vibrating their wings or something
What does courtship behaviour enables the same species to do
1) Recognise members of their own species
2) Identify a sexually mature and fertile males for breeding (When the female is producing eggs)
3) Form a pair bond that will lead to successful mating
4) Synchronise mating so it occurs when gametes are most likely to meet
5) Become able to breed by inducing members of the opposite sex into a psychological state that allows breeding to occur
Classification systems
Phylogeny - Study for evolutionary relationships between organisms
Taxonomy - Science of classifying organisms based on shared characteristics
Phylogenetic classification system
Arranges species into groups based on their evolutionary origins and relationships. It uses a hierarchy in which smaller taxa are placed in larger taxa with no overlaps with a hierarchy
Taxon
Each group in the classification system
Carl Linnaeus classification system
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Penguin thing
King
Penguins
Can
Only
Fly
Going
Sideways
Modern classification system
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Genus
Always starts with a capital letter
First word of the species name e.g
(Homo) sapiens
Species
Lowercase letter
Second word of the species name e.g
Homo (sapiens)
Comparing genetic diversity allows scientist to determine evolutionary relationships by
Comparison of observable characteristics
Comparison of DNA base sequences
Comparison of amino acid sequences in proteins
Comparison of observable characteristics
Studying body structures of different species to investigate the adaptations they have undergone during evolution including any homologous structure or comparing embryology studies how closely related species were in earlier stages of development
Why is comparison of observable characteristics limited
Many characteristics are coded for by more than one gene (polygenic) and could be modified by environmental conditions
Comparison of DNA sequences
DNA sequencing shows the exam sequence of nucleotide DNA in each species with each base being a different colour. The more similar the species the more bases match. Species which arise from mutations will have fewer matches
Comparison of amino acid sequence
Amino acid sequence is determined by mRNA which is ultimately determined by DNA. The more similar the amino acid sequence the more similar the species
What is the term used to describe the method of naming an organism using its genus name and species name
Binomial
How to test if two animals are from same species
Breeding test
If offspring is fertile and healthy it is from same species
Why might genetic diversity stay the same over generatoins
Hunting
Inbreeding
Small starting populaiton
Hierarchy
A system with smaller groups within larger groups with no overlaps
