Species and Taxonomy Flashcards
(8 cards)
What is meant by a species?
Species refers to a group of organisms that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring.
What is courtship behaviour?
Courtship behaviour is a necessary precursor to successful mating. This is because it allows individuals to recognise and reproduce with individuals of their own species, making reproduction much more successful. This is important, as otherwise infertile offspring (if any) would be produced.
What kind of signals are generally imvolved in courtship behaviour?
Visual, audiotory, chemical, and tactile signals.
How does courtship behaviour help classify organisms?
Courtship behaviour is species specific. Because of this specificity, courtship behaviour can be used to classify organisms. The more closely-related a species, the more similar their courtship behaviour.
What is the phylogenetic classification system?
The phylogenetic classification system arranges species into groups based on their evolutionary origins and relationships.
How are phylogenetic trees constructed?
To construct a phylogenetic tree, scientists use anatomical features, fossils, biochemical analysis of base sequences in, DNA or amino acid sequences in proteins.
Describe the phylogenetic classification system.
• Each branch point represents a common ancestor.
• The more closely-related two species, the more recently they had a common ancestor.
• 1st branch point = common ancestor of all species.
• Each following branch point represents another common ancestor from which a new species evolved.
What is taxonomy?
Taxonomy is the study of classification. Today, scientists use phylogeny to classify organisms. Each group is called a taxon.
Scientists constantly update classification systems due to advances in immunology and genome sequencing which can help clarify evolutionary relationships between organisms.
