Classification and Systematics

• Nomenclature – the first system of naming of organisms

for communication purposes
• With the an understanding of evolution and natural
selection taxonomists felt that a naming system should
reflect evolutionary relationships – goals of such a
system
– A natural system whereby the system grouped closely related
organisms together – greater pressure was placed upon the
taxonomist

– Names were based upon evolutionary relatedness

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 Types of Classification Systems

• Artificial Systems – the use of several key characters

used to simply get to the identification of an organism

• Natural Systems – trace the phylogeny of an organism –

their use has grown since more and more information is
know about the organisms being classified

– Physiological information
– DNA
– Still missing pieces

• For fossil organisms, frequently a blending of the two is

used so that we can identify an unknown fossil but also
group it with closely related fossils
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 Historical Aspects of Plant Classification
• The Ancient Period
– Theophrastus of Eresus
• Student of Aristotle
• 4th century B.C.
• Based upon leaf shapes and whether they were trees, herbs or shrubs
• Differentiated between flowering and nonflowering plants
• Identified sexuality in plants, realizing fruits developed from carpels

– Pliny the Elder (23- 79 A.D.)

• Natural historian
• Published Natural History – attempted to describe everything in the world,
even included mythological creatures
• Was the authoritative work for over 1,000 years

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 Historical Aspects of Plant Classification
– Dioscorides
• Greek physician
• 1st century AD
• Published Materia Medica
• Classification based upon medical uses and lasted for over 1500 years

– Herbals and the Doctrine of Signatures

• Herbals – describe the medial uses of plants, including much folk lore

• Signature of Doctrines – the morphology of the part of the plant that was
used related to the part of the body the plant part worked on (walnuts
[brains] hepatica leaves [liver])

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 Historical Aspects of Plant Classification
• Renaissance Period – expanded with the advent of exploration –
many earlier works were proved to be wrong or have inaccuracies –
as the number of organisms grew it became apparent that a
consistent system to name organisms was needed

– Bauhin

• Swiss botanist

• 15th century

• Took advantage of exploration and expeditions

• Classified over 6,000 plants based upon observable characters

• Used a double Latin name, 100 years before Linnaeus and was the first to
establish the concept of a genus

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 Historical Aspects of Plant Classification
– Carolus Linnaeus
• Swedish

• 1753 published 2 volume work, Species Plantarium (Species of the

World)

• Developed the binomial system of nomenclature

– Gave each species a two part name, binomial system

– First word in the genus is capitalized

– First and second words constitute the species name; second name is
usually lower case and both are underlined or in italics

– This method of classification was an artificial one, based upon a few

reproductive features and did not always represent true relationships

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 Historical Aspects of Plant Classification
• The Modern Period: Evolution and Classification

– Lamarck

– Darwin/Wallace (1859)

• Both proposed the concept of natural selection

• Gave rise to natural systems of classification

– Engler and Prantl – turn of the 20th century (1915)

• First to develop a phylogenetic system that became widely used

• Published Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien

• Used floral parts (no petals most primitive, monocots more primitive than dicots

– Bessey – early 1900’s

• Used Magnolia flowers (many parts, spirally arranged as being most primitive) – many
of his ideas are still used today

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 Levels of Taxonomic Categories
• Species the most basic unit – definition is variable; at times
subspecies are used (mention problem of lumpers vs. splitters)

Genus

Family

Order

Class

Division

Kingdom

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 Levels of Taxonomic Categories

• Cladistics – widely used in evolutionary studies – use the

fact that at some point in time a given organisms evolves
a character or characters different from its parent
producing two groups, one with the original character
and a second with the new, derived, character
(represented by a fork in the tree)

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 Levels of Taxonomic Categories
– Terminology

• Plesiomorphies – characters present in a group’s ancestors, relictual or

primitive

• Symplesiomorphies – primitive characters shared by two or more groups

(shared traits)

• Apomorphies – derived characters, not present in ancestors

• Synapomorphies – shared derived characters, found in two or more modern

groups

• Autoapomorphies – when a derived character is found in only one group

(ears of corn as a grass)

• Homoplasies – the result of convergent evolution – appear the same but not
evolved from the same evolutionary trait

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 Types of Evidence Used for Taxanomic Analysis

• Homology and Analogy

– Homologous Features (Synapomorphies) – those that have been
derived from a common ancestor – ex. Members of the
anthrurium family all possess a spathe and spadix inflorescence

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 Types of Evidence Used for Taxonomic Analysis
– Analogous Features (Homoplasies) – result from convergent
evolution – ex. Cacti and Euphorbias (both succulent with
spines; not closely related)

Determining what is homologous or analogous is most

difficult, especially if a small genetic change results in a
gross phenotypical differences

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 Taxonomic Studies

• Exploration and Discovery

– Very slow process, takes time, money, and dedication

– Results in

• Finding new individuals that must be classified

• Studies multiple specimens needed to understand individual

variability of a species

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 Taxonomic Studies

• Preliminary Studies of New Plants

– Using keys specimen must be identified – can be easy to very

difficult

– If it can’t be identified it is then sent to a specialist in the area

and in some cases is deemed a new species and named

• International Code of Botanical Nomenclature

– A unique binomial name must be assigned to it

– Plant must be described in numerous languages
– Name must be published in a peer reviewed journal
– Location of type specimen must be made evident

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 Taxonomic Studies

• Biosystematic and Experimental Studies

– Initially a new species is classified based upon current

knowledge of the plant

– The same can be true of previously established species as new

techniques arise

– If one were to use these techniques on all specimens this would

take a huge amount of time

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 Major Lines of Evolution

• Five Kingdoms

– Monera (bacteria and cyanobacteria)

– Protista (algae and protozoans)

– Myceteae (fungi)

– Animalia (animals)

– Plantae (plants)

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 Major Lines of Evolution

• Life began approximately 3.5 billion ya

– First Organisms
• Unicellular
• Cell membrane, cytoplasm, DNA, and no membrane bound
organelles
• Grouped in the Monera
• Photosynthesis (chlorophyll a) evolved in this group, produced an
oxygen rich atmosphere

– Second Advance

• Membrane bound organelles (mitochondria; endosymbiosis)

• Living organisms similar to these in the Protista

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 Major Lines of Evolution
– Third Advance

• Cell wall of chitin

• Grouped in the fungi

– Fourth Advance

• Multicellular organisms
• Distinct tissues
• Highly differentiated cells

– Fifth Advance

• Another endosymbiotic relationship; this time with a cyanobacterium,

became a chloroplast
• Occurred about 400 million ya

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