Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

KEY CONCEPT
Organisms can be classified based on physical
similarities.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
Linnaeus developed the scientific naming system still
used today.
• Taxonomy is the science of naming and classifying
organisms.

White oak:
Quercus alba

• A taxon is a group of organisms in a classification system.

Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Binomial nomenclature is a two-part scientific naming

system.
– uses Latin words
– scientific names always written in italics
– two parts are the genus name and species descriptor
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• A genus includes one or more physically similar species.

– Species in the same genus are thought to be closely
related.
– Genus name is always capitalized.
• A species descriptor is the second part of a scientific name.
– always lowercase
– always follows genus
name; never written alone
Tyto alba
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Scientific names help scientists to communicate.

– Some species have very similar common names.
– Some species have many common names.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
Linnaeus’ classification system has seven levels.
• Each level is
included in the
level above it.
• Levels get
increasingly
specific from
kingdom to
species.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
The Linnaean classification system has limitations.
• Linnaeus taxonomy doesn’t account for molecular
evidence.
– The technology didn’t exist during Linneaus’ time.
– Linnaean system based only on physical similarities.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Physical similarities are

not always the result of
close relationships.
• Genetic similarities more
accurately show
evolutionary relationships.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
KEY CONCEPT
Modern classification is based on evolutionary
relationships.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
Cladistics is classification based on common ancestry.
• Phylogeny is the evolutionary history for a group of species.
– evidence from living species, fossil record, and
molecular data
– shown with branching tree diagrams
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Cladistics is a common method to make evolutionary trees.

– classification based on common ancestry
– species placed in order that they descended from
common ancestor
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• A cladogram is an evolutionary tree made using cladistics.

– A clade is a group of species that shares a common
ancestor.
– Each species
in a clade
shares some
traits with the
ancestor.
– Each species
in a clade has
traits that have
changed.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Derived characters are traits shared in different degrees by

clade members.
1 Tetrapoda clade

– basis of arranging 2 Amniota clade

species in 3 Reptilia clade

4 Diapsida clade
5 Archosauria clade

cladogram
– more closely
related species
FEATHERS &
TOOTHLESS
BEAKS.

share more SKULL OPENINGS IN

FRONT OF THE EYE &
IN THE JAW

derived characters OPENING IN THE SIDE OF

THE SKULL

– represented on SKULL OPENINGS BEHIND THE EYE

cladogram as hash EMBRYO PROTECTED BY AMNIOTIC FLUID

marks FOUR LIMBS WITH DIGITS

DERIVED CHARACTER
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Nodes represent
the most recent CLADE

common ancestor 1 Tetrapoda clade

2 Amniota clade
of a clade. 3 Reptilia clade
4 Diapsida clade
5 Archosauria clade

• Clades can be
identified by
snipping a branch FEATHERS AND
TOOTHLESS
BEAKS.
under a node. SKULL OPENINGS IN
FRONT OF THE EYE AND
IN THE JAW

OPENING IN THE SIDE OF

THE SKULL

SKULL OPENINGS BEHIND THE EYE

EMBRYO PROTECTED BY AMNIOTIC FLUID

NODE FOUR LIMBS WITH DIGITS

DERIVED CHARACTER
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
Molecular evidence reveals species’ relatedness.
• Molecular data may confirm classification based on physical
similarities.
• Molecular data may lead scientists to propose a new
classification.

• DNA is usually given the last word by scientists.

Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
KEY CONCEPT
Molecular clocks provide clues to evolutionary history.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
Molecular clocks use mutations to estimate evolutionary
time.
• Mutations add up at a constant rate in related species.
– This rate is the ticking of the molecular clock.
– As more time passes, there will be more mutations.

Mutations add up at a fairly Ten million years later— Another ten million years later—
constant rate in the DNA of one mutation in each lineage one more mutation in each lineage
species that evolved from a
common ancestor.

The DNA sequences from two The mutation rate of this

descendant species show mutations sequence equals one mutation
that have accumulated (black). per ten million years.
DNA sequence from a
hypothetical ancestor
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Scientists estimate mutation rates by linking molecular data

and real time.
– an event known to separate species
– the first appearance of a species in fossil record
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
Mitochondrial DNA and ribosomal RNA provide two types
of molecular clocks.
• Different molecules have different mutation rates.
– higher rate, better for studying closely related species
– lower rate, better for studying distantly related species
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Mitochondrial DNA is used to study closely related species.

– mutation rate ten times faster than nuclear DNA
– passed down unshuffled from mother to offspring
grandparents
mitochondrial
DNA
nuclear DNA

parents Mitochondrial DNA is

passed down only from

the mother of each

generation,so it is not
subject to recombination.
child
Nuclear DNA is inherited from both
parents, making it more difficult to
trace back through generations.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Ribosomal RNA is used to study distantly related species.

– many conservative regions
– lower mutation rate than most DNA
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
KEY CONCEPT
The current tree of life has three domains.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
Classification is always a work in progress.
• The tree of life shows our most current understanding.
• New discoveries can lead to changes in classification.
– Until 1866: only two kingdoms, Plantae
Animalia and Plantae
Animalia
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
Classification is always a work in progress.
• The tree of life shows our most current understanding.
• New discoveries can lead to changes in classification.
– Until 1866: only two kingdoms, Plantae
Animalia and Plantae
Animalia
– 1866: all single-celled
Protista
organisms moved to
kingdom Protista
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
Classification is always a work in progress.
• The tree of life shows our most current understanding.
• New discoveries can lead to changes in classification.
– Until 1866: only two kingdoms, Plantae
Animalia and Plantae
Animalia
– 1866: all single-celled
Protista
organisms moved to
kingdom Protista
– 1938: prokaryotes moved
to kingdom Monera
Monera
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
Classification is always a work in progress.
• The tree of life shows our most current understanding.
• New discoveries can lead to changes in classification.
– Until 1866: only two kingdoms, Plantae
Animalia and Plantae
Animalia
– 1866: all single-celled
Protista
organisms moved to
kingdom Protista
– 1938: prokaryotes moved
to kingdom Monera
– 1959: fungi moved to
Monera
own kingdom
Fungi
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
Classification is always a work in progress.
• The tree of life shows our most current understanding.
• New discoveries can lead to changes in classification.
– Until 1866: only two kingdoms,
Animalia and Plantae Plantae
– 1866: all single-celled Animalia
organisms moved to Protista
kingdom Protista-proposed
by Ernst Haeckel
– 1938: prokaryotes moved to
kingdom Monera –proposed
byHerbert Copeland Archea
– 1959: fungi moved to own
kingdom- proposed by Fungi Bacteria
Robert Whittaker
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

Classification is always a work in progress.

• 1977: kingdom Monera

split into two kingdom
Bacteria or Eubacteria Plantae
and Archaea or Animalia
Archaebacteria – Protista
proposed by Carl Woes
the six kingdom
classification system

Archea

Fungi Bacteria
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
The three domains in the tree of life are Bacteria,
Archaea, and Eukarya.
• Domains are above the kingdom level.
– proposed by Carl Woese based on rRNA studies of
prokaryotes
– domain model more clearly shows prokaryotic diversity
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Domain Bacteria includes prokaryotes in the kingdom

Bacteria.
– one of largest groups
on Earth
– classified by shape,
need for oxygen, and
diseases caused
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Domain Archaea includes prokaryotes in the kingdom

Archaea.
– cell walls chemically
different from bacteria
– differences discovered by
studying RNA
– known for living in extreme
environments
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Domain Eukarya includes all eukaryotes.

– kingdom Protista
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Domain Eukarya includes all eukaryotes.

– kingdom Protista
– kingdom Plantae
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Domain Eukarya includes all eukaryotes.

– kingdom Protista
– kingdom Plantae
– kingdom Fungi
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Domain Eukarya includes all eukaryotes.

– kingdom Protista
– kingdom Plantae
– kingdom Fungi
– kingdom Animalia
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Bacteria and archaea can be difficult to classify.

– transfer genes among themselves outside of
reproduction
– blurs the line bridge to transfer DNA

between “species”
– more research
needed to
understand
prokaryotes
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Classification of Living Things
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

••• Live in extreme environments

Live in extreme environments
Live without oxygen
•• Live without oxygen
Prokaryotes
• Unicellular
•• Prokaryotes
Cell Walls
• Mostly Asexual
•• Unicellular
Heterotrophic and autotrophic
– Make food from chemicals instead of sun.
• Cell Walls
• Mostly Asexual
• Heterotrophic and autotrophic
– Make food from chemicals
instead of sun.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity
Archaebacteria

Examples of archaeabacteria
•Methanogens,
•halophiles
•thermophiles
•Haloccocus dombrowski and
Halobacterium salinarum
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

Archaebacteria

Examples of methanogens. (a) Methanobacterium

ruminatum, from cow stomach undergoing division,
and (b) Methanospirillum hungatei, from waste
treatment ponds (bar scale = 1 µm). The symbol
µm means micrometer. 1 µm is equal to 0.001 m.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

Thermophiles (Heat-loving bacteria)

Electron micrographs of thermophiles (a) Pyrodictium

occcultum and b) Pyrococcus furiosus (bar scale = 10
m). 10 µm = 0.01 mm.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

Halophiles (Salt-loving bacteria)

• If you live in areas which make salt, have you
observed the orange or yellow color in salt
ponds? This is due to the presence of
halophiles. These archaebacteria are
adapted to very salty environments.
• Examples are Haloccocus dombrowski and
Halobacterium salinarum.
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• More common bacteria

• They can be found
everywhere
• Heterotrophs, Chemotrophs,
and Autotrophs
• Prokaryotes
• No Mitochondria
• Unicellular
• Mostly Asexual
• Reproduces very quickly
• Cell Wall
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

Eubacteria –True bacteria

• Classified according to chemical composition of the
cell wall and reaction to Gram staining
Cell wall –
 with peptidoglycan a protein-carbohydrate complex
test positive to gram staining
 With lipid-carbohydrate complex test negative to
Gram staining
75% of known eubacteria are Gram negative
Include disease-causing bacteria
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• The miscellaneous kingdom

• Most live in moist
environments
• Mostly Unicellular
• Eukaryotes
• Considered earths Early Life
forms
• Some with Cell walls
• Mostly Asexual Reproduction
• Many use photosynthesis
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

KINGDOM PROTISTA

•Conglomerate of organisms which do not fit into

other 4 Kingdoms
•Moneran (bacteria), Animalia, Plantae, Fungi

•Much more complicated than Monerans

•They represent the intermediate step in the
evolution of the other three kingdoms
•Protozoan is the Greek word for “first animal”
•Contains about 65,000 species
46
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Considered the link between bacteria and

other kingdoms.
• Plant Like
– Photosynthesis.
– Diatoms and algae
• Animal Like http://csm.jmu.edu/biology/dendinger/biology/biofac/dendi
nger/amoeba.jpg

– Eat food.
– Amoebas, flagellates.
• Fungi Like Protists
– Decomposers.
– Slime mold and mildew.

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/downy-mildew-bf4.jpg
http://msucares.com/lawn/tree_diseases/images/slime.gif
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Mostly Multicellular,
– Some unicellular
• heterotrophs
– Decomposers
– Dead plants and animals
• Cell walls
• Mostly sexual Reproduction
• Use spores
• Have hyphae
• Eukaryotes
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Mushrooms,
• Molds
• Yeast (unicellular)
• Sac Fungi
http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/141985_Fungi.jpg

http://kentsimmons.uwinnipeg.ca/16cm05/1116/31-14-MoldyOrangeCollage.jpg
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Autotrophs
– Photosynthesis-Make sugar
– Chlorophyll
• Cell Walls
• Multicellular
• Eukaryotes
– Have a nucleus
• Producers
– Supply ecosystems with food
• Mostly sexual reproductoin

http://www.xtec.cat/~mherna23/summer03/amspot/picture/plantcell.jpg
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity

• Heterotrophs
– Have to Eat
• Can move from place to
place
• Multicellular
• No Cell Walls
• Eukaryotes
• Sexual and Asexual http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2008/12/30/cm-
mag0706_toc_p_0498464119.jpg

Reproduction

http://www.bioweb.uncc.edu/1110Lab/notes/notes1/labpics/Cheek
%20Cell%20(Google).jpg
http://cmweb.pvschools.net/~bbecke/newell/images/cells/Animal-Cell.jpg
Unit 6: Classification and Diversity http://www.hickerphoto.com/data/media/161/birds-of-prey_T5808.jpg

• Over a million identified species.

• 97 percent have no backbone
• 3% are vertebrates..Mammals ,birds,
reptiles, amphibians, fish
Sponge and coral Worms Arthropods

http://www.denverzoo.org/images/Reptiles_02.jpg

http://www.divetrip.com/wakatobi/flatworm02.jpg

Cnidarians Mollusks

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/content_images/polar_bea
http://www.arcodiv.org/watercolumn/cnidarian/images/Chrysaora_melanaster_400x300.jpgr.jpg