1. Classification of Organisms - Phylogeny Flashcards
Define classification.
The act of arranging organisms into groups.
Define phylogeny.
The study of the evolutionary history of groups of organisms.
What does phylogeny tell us?
Who is related to whom and how closely they are related.
All organisms have evolved from shared common ancestors - shown in phylogentic tree,
Looking at the phylogentic tree what does the first branch point indicate?
Common ancestor of all the family members - the ancestor is now extinct.
Each branch point represents another common ancestor from which a different group diverged.
Looking at the phylogentic tree how can we tell which species are closely related to each other?
They diverged away from each other most recently.
Branches close together.
What is Taxonomy
The science of classification.
Naming / organising organisms into groups.
Makes it easier to study / identify then
They take into account phylogeny and group according to evolutionary histories.
How many taxa ?
8
Each group called taxon
Arranged hierarchy - largest at top and smallest at bottom.
No overlap
Name the order of taxa
Domains Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
Mnemonic
Demanding Kids Prefer Chips Over Floppy Green Spinach
3 groups of domain
Eukarya
Bacteria
Archaea
Where do related organisms in a domain go?
Into smaller groups called kingdoms
More closely related organisms go into phylum, then class and so on
Example - classification of humans
Domain =eukarya Kingdom = animalia Phylum = Chordata Class= mammalia Order = primates Family = hominidae Genus = homo Species = sapien
General pattern as you move down hierarchy
More groups at each level but fewer organisms in each group.
Organisms in each group become more closely related.
Species
Group containing only one type of organisms eg humans
Similar organisms that produce to give fertile offspring
Nomenclature
Naming System
