Systematics and Taxonomy

BIL 161
Biodiversity

One of the important steps one must

take in understanding the diversity of
life around us is to

CLASSIFY IT
Taxonomy & Systematics
Taxonomy is the science of naming living
organisms and placing them into a nested
hierarchy of classfication groups called taxa
(singular = taxon)
Systematics is the study of evolutionary
relationships among organisms, both extant
and extinct.
Taxonomy & Systematics
Today you will learn how to use and create…
Taxonomic Key – a tool used to identify
unknown organisms in your possession
Phylogenetic Tree – a diagramatic
representation of the evolutionary history of
a group of related organisms
Taxonomy
A taxon is a group organisms considered by
taxonomists to form a related unit.
In modern systematics, taxa are assembled on the
basis of recency of descent from common ancestor.
Biological nomenclature is the application of names to
organisms recognized as part of a particular taxon.

Taxa are organized in a nested hierarchy of taxonomic

ranks, from largest (most inclusive) to smallest (least
inclusive.
Three aspects of a taxon
1. The taxon’s name. For example…
 Mammalia
 Chordata
 Fungi
 Homo sapiens
 Rodentia

The taxon’s name has no real biological significance. It is

a tool we use to group similar things, and serves the same
functions as names like “hats” and “flying monkeys”.
Three aspects of a taxon
2. The taxon’s rank. For example…
 Domain (rank) – Eukarya (name)
 Kingdom (rank) – Animalia (name)
 Phylum (rank) – Chordata (name)
 Class (rank) – Mammalia (name)
 Order (rank) – Primates (name)
 Family (rank) – Hominidae (name)
 Genus (rank) – Homo (name)
 Species (rank) – sapiens (name)

Every species is nested in a sequentially more

inclusive set of taxonomic ranks, as shown above
for our own species.
Three aspects of a taxon
3. The taxon’s content. For example…
 All members of this lab class are in the taxon Homo
sapiens (we hope)
 The taxon Canis familiaris All domestic dogs are
included in the taxon Canis familiaris
 The taxon Chordata includes all animals that have (at
some point)
 Dorsal, hollow nerve tube
 Notochord
 Tail posterior to the anus
 Pharyngeal gill slits
The Taxonomic Key
Tool for identifying organisms

Organized as dichotomous (two-way) choices

Example: You have four birds

 One is yellow with a crest of feathers
 One is black with a crest of feathers
 One is blue with red legs
 One is blue with yellow legs

Your first dichotomy might be:

 1a. Feathers are blue…………………………………..go to 2
 1b. Feathers are not blue…………………………….go to 3
The Taxonomic Key
Next dichotomies:
2a. Legs are yellow…………………………….Phoenecius azuli

2b. Legs are red……………………...…….Phoenecius erythris

3a. Feathers are black…………………..Phoenecius obscurus

3b. Feathers are yellow.……………..Phoeneceius aureus

By taking each bird through the dichotomy, you

should be able to identify it to its scientific name.
The Taxonomic Key
You will be using a taxonomic key to identify
“species” of pasta from a key in your lab manual.
The Taxonomic Key
Be careful when you examine your pasta, and be sure
you know what is what.

What’s the skin?

What’s the body?

What’s the shape?

Incorrectly identifying a character/trait can lead to

misidentification of your organism.

This is true for real keys used for real organisms, too.
The Taxonomic Key
You will then create a taxonomic key that will allow your
fellow lab students to correctly identify various “species”
of imaginary creatures called Caminalcules.
Phylogenetic Systematics
Phylogenetic systematics (Cladistics)
is the biological discipline whose practitioners
reconstruct evolutionary history and study the
patterns of relationships among organisms.

Data can come from various sources

Morphology
Ontogeny (embryo development)
Molecular Studies (DNA, RNA, protein sequence)
Constructing Phylogenies
The biological definition of a species:
A group of similar organisms that can interbreed under
natural conditions to produce fertile, viable offspring.

The species is the only taxonomic rank with biological

significance.

But even the species is sometimes difficult to define, and

not everyone agrees on how to define a species.

We do know that, over generations, one species can change

into a new species via the various processes of evolution.
Constructing Phylogenies
The systematist uses various traits (a.k.a.,
characters) to establish evolutionary links.
Morphological
Ontogenetic
Molecular

The condition, or state, of the character

gives important information about recency
of common descent.
Constructing Phylogenies
primitive character (plesiomorphy)
shows little or no change from the
same character in an ancestor
symplesiomorphy (literally "shared
primitive character") is a primitive
character shared between two or
more taxa
Constructing Phylogenies
For example, all Chordates have pharyngeal gill slits and
a tail posterior to the anus at some point in
development. These are symplesiomorphies with
respect to all Chordates.
Constructing Phylogenies
derived character (apomorphy) has
changed in appearance and/or
function relative to the same
character in an ancestor
synapomorphy (literally "shared
derived character") is a derived
character shared between two or
more taxa
Constructing Phylogenies
For example, the same pharyngeal pouches that
become gills in a fish will develop into structures of
the middle ear in a mammal.
All mammals share
this trait, which is
a synapomorphy
of mammals with
respect to all other
vertebrates.
Constructing Phylogenies
Beware analogous characters:
Traits that look the same or have the same
function in two species but was NOT the product of
inheritance from a common ancestor are called
analogous characters or homoplasies.
These must not be confused with homologies, as
this can lead to incorrect phylogenies.
Constructing Phylogenies
Constructing Phylogenies
By examining and
comparing
synapomorphies unique to
groups of organisms, the
systematist can construct
a phylogenetic tree, a
diagramatic
representation of their
evolutionary history.
The Phylogenetic Tree

A, B, C, D, and E are taxa

w, x, y, and z are
hypothetical ancestors
Each branch point is a node
Each node represents a
branching from a common
ancestor.
The base (root) of the tree
represents the common
ancestor of all taxa on the
tree
 The Phylogenetic Tree
A phylogenetic tree is a
hypothesis.
The branches at each node can
be rotated without changing
the information.
Taxa branching from a common
ancestor are called sister taxa.
There is no such thing as a
“most highly evolved” species.
No extant or extinct species
can be considered ancestral to
another.
The Phylogenetic Tree
Initial character analysis usually yields
an UNROOTED TREE.
No common ancestor is indicated.
 The Phylogenetic Tree
To root the tree, one must use an OUTGROUP.
This is a taxon related to, but not included in,
the group of interest (the ingroup).
The characters shared by both the outgroup and
the ingroup can be identified as
symplesiomorphies.
These are not useful for determining smaller,
less inclusive groups within the ingroup.
The outgroup confers polarity to the tree.
The Phylogenetic Tree
 The Phylogenetic Tree
The goal of phylogenetic systematics is to
construct taxa descended from a single
common ancestor. Such a taxon is said to be
monophyletic.
 The Phylogenetic Tree
A taxon constructed incorrectly that does
not include all descendants of an ancestral
taxon is said to be paraphyletic.
 The Phylogenetic Tree
A taxon incorrectly groups taxa descended
from different common ancestors is said to
be polyphyletic.
The Phylogenetic Tree
You will now learn how to create a phylogenetic
tree by employing CLADISTICS: USING SHARED,
DERIVED CHARACTERS TO CONSTRUCT
MONOPHYLETIC TAXA.
You will use the Caminalcules as your Operational
Taxonomic Units (OTUs)
We call them OTUs to avoid specifying at what
rank we are classifying them.
Refer to your lab manual for full instructions.
 Determining Synapomorphies
Step One: Devise a list of binary (two-way)
characters that all of your OTUs exhibit in one
form or the other. For example:
 Character a: "eyes present" (+) versus "eyes absent" (-)

 Character b: "body mantle present" (+) versus "body mantle absent" (-)

 Character c: "paired, anterior non-jointed appendages present" (+)

versus "paired, anterior non-jointed appendages not present" (-)

(A sample list of binary characters can be found in your

lab manual.)
 Determining Synapomorphies
Step Two: Examine each OTU and determine
whether or not the character is present.
Complete a matrix like that shown in your lab
manual.
Step Three: Construct a phylogenetic tree
like the one shown on in your lab manual.
Complete instructions are found in the online
lab manual.
Read it carefully and proceed.
Questions?