1: Classifying life & reconstructing phylogenies

Question 1

List the taxonomic nomenclature

Answer 1

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

Question 2

What was Haeckel’s tree of life?

Answer 2

An early attempt at drawing a phylogenic tree
= interacting taxonomy and phylogeny with time dimension

Question 3

Describe (generally) how you’d carry out phylogenic analysis

Answer 3

1. Create a list of characteristics of a species, record whether it’s present/absent
2. Use a computer to analyse this data and create a cladogram
   - Using the principles of parsimony or Bayesian methods

Question 4

In phylogeny, what can the organising characteristics be?

Answer 4

Analogous → similarity due to convergent evolution (homoplasy)
Homologous → similarity due to common ancestry

Question 5

Define Snyplesiomorphies

Answer 5

shared ancestral characters e.g use of genetic code

Question 6

Define Synapomorphies

Answer 6

shared derived characters e.g 4 limbs humans share with amphibians

Question 7

Define Autapomorphies

Answer 7

characters unique to a taxon e.g human brain

Question 8

In cladistic analysis, what sort of relationships are we looking for?

Answer 8

Sister group relationships

Question 9

Define a monophyletic group

Answer 9

Contains the latest common ancestor + all, and only all of its descendents

Also called a clade

Question 10

Define a paraphyletic group

Answer 10

• Diagnosed by plesiomorphies and doesn’t include all the descendents of a common ancestor
• A paraphyletic group remains after one or more parts of a monophyletic group have been removed

Question 11

Define a polyphyletic group

Answer 11

• A group in which the most recent common ancestor is assigned to some other group and not the group itself
• Defined on the basis of convergence
• Or non-homologous characters assumed to have been absent in the latest common ancestor

Question 12

Who proposed the 5 kingdom classification?

Answer 12

Lynn Margulis

Question 13

List the 5 kingdom system

Answer 13

Monera
Protista
Animalia
Fungi
Plantae

Question 14

List the 8 kingdom system

Answer 14

Bacteria
Archea

Archeozoa
Protista
Chromista

Animalia
Fungi
Plantae

Question 15

List the 3 domain system

Answer 15

Domain Bacteria
Domain Archaea
Domain Eukarya

Question 16

In the 80s we realised there were 2 types of prokaryote, what are these?

Answer 16

eubacteria (bacteria) and archaebacteria (archaea)