Classification

Chapter 10

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 What do you know about classification?

SPECIES CONCEPTS SCIENTIFIC NAME SPECIES KINGDOM BIODIVERSITY GENETICS TAXONOMY

Concepts and terms
• Taxonomy – branch of biology that identifies, name, and classifies organisms into related categories
- Reflects the evolutionary history of an organism
• Classification - process of naming and assigning organisms/ groups of organisms to a taxon
• Taxonomist – scientists who study taxonomy
Linnaean taxonomy
• Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)
• Binomial system of nomenclature
- Naming organisms using a two-part Latin name
- First – genus name
- closely related species are assigned to the same genus
- Second – specific epithet
- usually something specific about the organism
• Together they make the scientific name of the organism
• E.g., Humpback whale - Megaptera novaeangliae
Linnaean taxonomy
• Why use Latin?
- universal and avoids confusion
• Common names vary between languages and locations
• A common name may refer to more than one organism
• International Code of Zoological Nomenclature – governs naming of animals and animal-like organisms.
• International Code of Botanical Nomenclature – governs naming of plants, algae, and fungi
What are some
scientific names
that you know?
Species concepts

Morphological Species Concept Biological Species Concept

Morphological
species concept
• Linnaeus considered organisms as the same species if they share unique
and physical structures or morphology.
• Problems:
- Variations exist within populations, between and within
generations
- Males and females of a species may look different to one another
and to their offspring
- Different species may look similar to one another
Biological species concept
• Organisms are considered the same species if they are able to interbreed and produce viable offspring.
• Problems:
- Cannot test this theory in geographically separated populations
- Some species hybridize where geographical ranges overlap.
- where interbreeding occurs between closely related species, a subspecies may arise and is indicated by a three-part
name.
- E.g., Brown fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus)
- Subspecies – Cape fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus)
- Subspecies – Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus)
Classification categories
• Seven categories of classification
• More recently an 8th category has been included – Domain
• The higher the category – the more inclusive
• The lower the category – the less inclusive
• King Phillip Came Over For Green Soup
- Kingdom - Family
- Phyla - Genus
- Class - Species
- Order
 Example: the blue whale
(Balaenoptera musculus )
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata – a spinal cord
• Class: Mammalia – mammary glands
• Order: Cetacea – fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, and
carnivorous
- Suborder: Mysticeti – baleen plates
• Family: Balaenopteridae - ventral groves on throat
• Genus: Balaenoptera
• Species: musculus
The three-
domain system
• Modern classification is a rapidly changing science!
• Molecular analyses have given rise to a new taxonomic
category that is now recognised by many scientists
• Domain is a more inclusive category – larger than a
kingdom
• Three domains:
1. Domain Bacteria
2. Domain Archaea
3. Domain Eukarya
Domain bacteria
• Bacteria live in almost every type of environment (chemical cycling) and are often associated with disease.
• Bacteria have distinct cell shapes including round, spiral, and rod shapes.
• Kingdom: Eubacteria
• Examples: Clostridium tetani, Bacillus anthracis, Vibrio cholerae, cyanobacteria.
• Cell Type: unicellular, prokaryotic
• Metabolism: oxygen may be toxic, tolerated, or needed for metabolism.
• Nutrition Acquisition: may occur through heterotrophic via absorption or autotrophic via photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.
• Reproduction: Asexual
Domain archaea
• The cell wall composition allows them to live in extreme conditions.
• Kingdom: Archaebacteria
• Examples: Methanogens (anaerobic), halophiles (salt), thermophiles (hot & acidic).
• Cell Type: unicellular, prokaryotic
• Metabolism: oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, sulphur, or sulphide may be needed for metabolism.
• Nutrition Acquisition: may occur through absorption, non-photosynthetic photophosphorylation, or chemosynthesis.
• Reproduction: Asexual reproduction by binary fission, budding, or fragmentation.
Domain eukarya
• Membrane bound organelles, some due to endosymbiosis.
• Kingdoms: Plantae, Animalia, Fungi, Protista.
• Examples: Plants, animals, fungi, protists.
• Cell Type: uni- & multi- cellular, eukaryotic (true membrane-bound nucleus).
• Metabolism: oxygen needed for metabolism.
• Nutrition Acquisition: may occur through absorption, photosynthesis, ingestion.
• Reproduction: Sexual reproduction is common with complex life-cycles.
Domain eukarya
six kingdoms
Six kingdoms
• Early biologists recognized two kingdoms: Animalia and Plantae.
• With the invention of the microscope, Ernst Henkle (1800’s) proposed the addition of the kingdom Protista (all micro-organisms).
• H. Whittaker (1969) suggested the five-kingdom system which is based on cell type, organization and nutrition.
- Monera: prokaryotic bacteria that obtain nutrients through absorption or photosynthesis.
- Protista: mainly unicellular eukaryotes, obtain nutrients through absorption, ingestion or photosynthesis (algae are included in this group).
- Plantae: multicellular, photosynthetic eukaryotes.
- Animalia: multicellular, heterotrophic via ingestion, usually motile eukaryotes.
- Fungi: multicellular, heterotrophic saprotrophs that form spores, lack flagella and contain chitin in their cell walls.
Phylogenetic trees
• Systematics: the study of the diversity of organisms using information from cellular to population levels.
• Phylogeny: is the evolutionary history of a group of organisms.
- Classification reflect phylogeny in the form of phylogenetic trees.
• Phylogenetic species concept: members are descended from a common ancestor and who all possess a combination of
certain defining, or derived traits, either morphologically or genetically.
Phylogenetic
trees
• Phylogenetic tree: indicates common ancestors and
lines of decent.
• Primitive/ancestral character: is a trait that is
present in a common ancestor and all members of
a group.
• Derived character: present only in a specific line of
descent.
• Two species are related when they share a
common ancestor.
Class activity
1. What characteristic does deer, cattle, monkey, and
apes have in common?
2. What characteristics do deer and cattle have in
common?
3. Which characteristic separates deer and cattle?
4. What characteristic is specific to apes and
monkeys?
5. What letter represents the most common
ancestor to apes and monkeys?
Class activity
1. Name this diagram.
2. Identify the ancestors of the modern
bird (robin).
3. Identify the most recent common
ancestor of Velociraptor and
Archaeopteryx.
4. Discuss which traits are shared by
Archaeopteryx and modern birds.
Tracing phylogenies
– fossil record
• One of the advantages of fossils is that they can be
dated, and this can be used to determine the age
of species.
• Fossil turtles are more closely related to crocodiles
than to lizards.
• The fossil record is incomplete because most fossils
are formed from harder body parts, such as bones
and teeth – soft parts are usually eaten or decayed
before they have a chance to be buried and
preserved.
Tracing phylogenies –
morphological traits
• Homology: is structural similarity that stems from having a common
ancestor.
• Homologous structures are similar to each other because of common
descent but may differ in structure and function.
• The forelimbs of vertebrates contain the same bones organized as they
were in a common ancestor, despite adaptations to different environments.
• E.g., even though a horse has a single digit and toe (the hoof), while a bat
has four lengthened digits that support its wing, a horse’s forelimb and a
bat’s forelimb contain the same bones.
Tracing phylogenies –
morphological traits
• Deciphering homology is sometimes difficult because of
convergent evolution.
• Convergent evolution: distantly related species have a
structure that looks the same only because of adaptation
to the same type of environment.
• Analogous structure: have the same function but are not
derived from the same organ in a common ancestor.
Systematics
today
• Cladistics systematics:
- Analyzes primitive and derived
characteristics to construct cladograms.
• Cladogram: a diagram showing
relationships among species based on
shared, derived characteristics.