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Biology > 13. Classification and Evolution > Flashcards

13. Classification and Evolution Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the reasons for classification of living things?

A

convenience, makes study more manageable, it is easier to identify organisms, helps to see relationships between species.

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2
Q

What are the eight taxonomic levels of classification?

A

Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

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3
Q

What are the three domains?

A

Archaea, Eubacteria and Eukaryotae

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4
Q

What are the five main kingdoms?

A 
Plantae, Animalia, Fungi, Protoctista (these are eukaryotes which posses a nucleus)
and Prokaryotae (single-celled organisms that do not posses a nucleus)
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5
Q

What is a phylum?

A

All the groups of organisms that have the same body plan (e.g. have a backbone).

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6
Q

What is a class?

A

Organisms that have the same traits (e.g. number of legs).

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7
Q

What is an order?

A

A sub-division of class which adds additional information about the organism.

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8
Q

What is a species?

A

The basic unit of classification.

Organisms may have variations but are essentially the same.

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9
Q

What is the binomial naming system?

A

A system of naming organisms, the genus name and the species name are used.
The genus name has an upper-case.
The name is always underlined.

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10
Q

Why is the binomial naming system important?

A

It ensures that the name of organisms is the same in different countries.

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11
Q

What are the features of Prokaryotae?

A

No nucleus, Have a loop of DNA consisting of linear chromosomes, have naked DNA, no membrane-bound organelles, smaller ribosomes, have smaller cells than eukaryotes, can be free-living or parasitic.

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12
Q

What are the features of Protoctista?

A

Eukaryotic, mostly single-celled, have plant and animal-like features, mostly free-living.

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13
Q

What are the features of Fungi?

A

Eukaryotic, can exist as single cells (called yeasts), walls made of chitin, cytoplasm is multinucleate, mostly free-living

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14
Q

What are the features of Plantae?

A

Eukaryotic, are multicellular, cells have cellulose cell walls, are autotrophic, contain chlorophyll

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15
Q

What does autotrophic mean?

A

When an organism absorbs simple molecules and builds them into larger, organic molecules.

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16
Q

What are the features of Animalia?

A

Eukaryotic, multicellular, heterotrophic, able to move around.

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17
Q

What does heterotrophic mean?

A

When an organism digests large, organic molecules to form smaller molecules for absorption.

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18
Q

What is convergent evolution?

A

When two unrelated species adapt in similar ways and therefore look very similar.

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19
Q

How are biological molecules used in classification?

A

Certain large, biological molecules are found in all living species.
They may not be identical in every species as have changed as a result of evolution.
Two organisms with similar molecules will be closely related as they haven’t evolved separately for long.
Two organisms with very different versions of the same molecule are less closely related as they have evolved separately for longer.

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20
Q

What is cytochrome c?

A

A protein used in the process of respiration.
It is not identical in all species.
The amino acids in two species can be identified…
If the sequences are the same, the species must be closely related.
If the sequences are different, the species are not closely related.
The more differences, the less closely related.

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21
Q

How is DNA used in classification?

A

DNA is found in all living organisms.
And provides instructions for producing proteins.
The more similar the sequence in a part of the DNA, the more closely related the two species.

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22
Q

What is the three-domain system of classification?

A

The kingdom Prokaryotae is divided into two groups, bacteria and archaeae.

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23
Q

What is artificial classification?

A

Classification based only on a few characteristics, it doesn’t reflect evolutionary relationships, provides limited information and is stable.

24
Q

What is biological classification?

A

Classification based on many characteristics, reflects evolutionary relationships, provides useful information, may change with advancing knowledge.

25
Q

What is phylogeny?

A

The study of evolutionary relationships between species

26
Q

What is an evolutionary or phylogenetic tree?

A

Any two species living have a common ancestor at some time in the past.
When two species start to evolve separately it is indicated by a branch point on the tree.
The common ancestor appears at that branch point.
The more recent the common ancestor, the more closely related the species.

27
Q

What did Charles Darwin propose?

A

The theory of Natural Selection.

28
Q

What observations were made to come up with the theory of natural selection?

A

Offspring appear similar to their parents, No two individuals are identical, Organisms can produce large numbers of offspring, Populations in nature tend to remain stable in size.

29
Q

What are the main points of natural selection?

A

There is a struggle to survive.
Better-adapted individuals survive and pass on their characteristics to their offspring.
Over time, a number of changes may give rise to a new species.

30
Q

How are fossils evidence for evolution?

A

Shows that, in the past, the world was inhabited by species that were different from those today.
Old species have died and new one have arisen.
New species that have appeared are often similar to older ones in the same place.

31
Q

How are biological molecules evidence for evolution?

A

The fact that certain molecules are found throughout the living world proves that species share a common ancestor.
Two species that have separated recently will have nearly identical biological molecules.
Biological molecules in species that have evolved separately for a long time will differ more.

32
Q

What is variation?

A

The difference between individuals

33
Q

What is continuous variation?

A

Variation where there are two extremes and a full range of values in between.

34
Q

What is discontinuous variation?

A

Where there a distinct categories and and no values in between.

35
Q

What is environmental variation?

A

Variation caused by a response to environmental factors

36
Q

What is genetic variation?

A

Variation caused by possessing a different combination of alleles

37
Q

What is interspective variation?

A

The differences between species

38
Q

What is intraspective variation?

A

The variation between members of the same species.

39
Q

What is standard deviation?

A

A measure of the amount of variation or spread from the mean.

40
Q

How do you calculate standard deviation?

A

Look at standard deviation card

41
Q

What does a low standard deviation indicate?

A

Indicates that the data has a narrow range and the points are closely grouped to the mean.
Could indicate better reliability.

42
Q

What does a high standard deviation indicate?

A

Indicates the data points have a larger range and are less well grouped.
Could indicate lower reliability.

43
Q

What is Student’s t-test?

A

It will test whether the difference between two means is a significant difference

44
Q

How do you calculate Student’s t-test?

A

Look at student’s t-test card

45
Q

What is correlation coefficient?

A

Used to consider the relationships between two sets of data.

The Spearman rank correlation tells us whether two sets of data are correlated or not.

46
Q

How do you calculate Spearman rank correlation?

A

Look at Spearman rank card

47
Q

What is adaptation?

A

Any variation that helps an organism to survive.
A well-adapted organism will be able to…
Find enough food or photosynthesise well,
find enough water, gather enough nutrients, defend itself from predators and diseases, respond to changes in environment and have sufficient energy for reproduction.

48
Q

What anatomical adaptations does Marram grass have?

A

Long roots reach water deep underground.
Roots spread over a wide area to absorb lots of water when it is available and stabilise the sand dune.
Curled leaves reduces area exposed to wind and traps air so moisture can build up.
Low density of stomata means less water vapour is lost

49
Q

What are behavioural adaptations?

A

An aspect of an organism’s behaviour that will help them to survive.
e.g. An earthworm can contract quickly and withdraw into its burrow to avoid being eaten.

50
Q

What behavioural adaptations does Marram Grass have?

A

It responds to a shortage of water by rolling the leaf more tightly and closing the stomata which reduces transpiration.

51
Q

What are Physiological/ biochemical adaptations?

A

One that ensures the correct functioning of cell processes.

52
Q

What Physiological/ biochemical adaptations does Marram Grass have?

A

The ability to roll its leaf is due to the action of specialised hinge cells in the lower epidermis
The guard cells are specialised to open and close the stomata.
The lignified cells in the leaves provide support when turgidity is lost.

53
Q

How does natural selection work?

A
  1. Mutation creates alternative versions of a gene.
  2. This creates genetic variation between individuals of a species
  3. The environment can then select those variations to give an advantage.
  4. Individuals with advantageous characteristics will survive and reproduce to pass on their characteristics.
  5. Over time, organisms become adapted to their environment.
54
Q

What impact do pesticides have on insects?

A

An insecticide is a very strong selection pressure.
If the individual insect is susceptible then it will die.
If it has some form of resistance, then it may survive.
This resistance will be passed on as these individuals reproduce.

55
Q

What impact does a resistance to insecticides have on an ecosystem?

A

It can cause the pesticide to accumulate in the food chain.
Insects who survive an application of the chemical can be eaten by their predators.
It then moves up the food chain, increasing in concentration, through predation.

56
Q

How can adaptation of bacteria have a negative impact?

A

The use of antibiotics is a very strong selection pressure on bacteria.
Antibiotics kill bacteria that are not resistant to them.
However, those that are resistant can survive and reproduce rapidly.
This results in a strain of bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

Biology (13 decks)

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