2.1b Identification and Taxonomy Flashcards
How can identification of an organism in a sample be made?
-classification guides
- biological keys
- analysis of DNA or protein
Name 2 ways that organisms can be classified?
- taxonomy
- phylogenetics
What does taxonomy involve?
the identification and naming of organisms and their classifications into groups based on shared characteristics
What is classic taxonomy based on?
morphology
What is phylogenetics?
the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among individuals or groups of organisms
How does phylogenetics work?
It uses heritable traits such as morphology, DNA sequences, and protein structure to make inferences about an organism’s evolutionary history and create a
phylogeny
What is a phylogeny?
a phylogenetic tree
What is a phylogenetic tree?
a diagrammatic hypothesis of its relationships to other organisms.
What can genetic evidence do?
reveal relatedness obscured by divergent or convergent evolution.
What is phylogenetics doing?
changing the traditional classification of many organisms
What does familiarity with taxonomic groups allow?
predictions and inferences to be made about the biology of an organism from better-known (model) organisms
Give 3 examples of taxonomic groups
- nematodes
- arthropods
- chordates
What are model organisms?
those that are either
easily studied or have been well studied
Give 7 examples of model organisms
- the bacterium E. col
- the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana
- the nematode C. elegans
- the arthropod Drosophila melanogaster (a fruit
fly); - mice
- rats
- zebrafish
(last 3 are all chorodates)
What is the role of model organisms in science?
- very important in the
advancement of modern biology - Information obtained from them can be
applied to other species that are more difficult
to study directly
