28: Biodiversity Flashcards
What are the 7 characteristics of living organisms?
movement, respiration, irritability, growth, reproduction, excretion, nutrition
What are the levels of classification of organisms with increasing order of similarity?
Domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
What is the phylum name for vertebrates?
chordata
What is the meaning of binomial nomenclature?
It is a naming system of organisms. The scientific name of each organism consists of two parts. The first part designates the genus name and the second part designates the species name.
How is the scientific name of humans printed?
Homo sapiens
In print, the name is italicised with the genus name beginning with a capital letter.
How is the scientific name of humans written?
_Homo_ _sapiens_
In writing, the name is underlined while the space between them is not. The genus name begins with a capital letter.
What is the definition of species?
A species is a group of closely related organisms which are potentially capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
What are some exceptions to the definition of species?
Asexually reproducing organisms, and interbred organisms that are not capable of reproducing (eg. mule)
List all domains.
Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya
List all kingdoms and their respective domains.
In Domain Bacteria: Kingdom Eubacteria
In Domain Archaea: Kingdom Archaebacteria
In Domain Eukarya: Kingdom Protista, Kingdom Fungi, Kingdom Animalia, Kingdom Plantae
What is the difference between domains Bacteria, Archaea, and Domain Eukarya?
Domain Bacteria and Domain Archaea consist of prokaryotes, while Domain Eukaryra consists of eukaryotes.
What are the characteristics of organisms in Kingdom Eubacteria?
They are prokaryotic unicellular organisms. They do not have any membrane-bound organelles. Some of them are disease-causing, called pathogens.
What is the structure of organisms in Kingdom Eubacteria?
They have a cell wall made of peptidoglycan. They may have pili for the exchange of genetic materials. They may also have a flagellum for locomotion and be enclosed in a capsule.
What are the characteristics of organisms in Kingdom Archaebacteria?
They are unicellular and prokaryotic, being even smaller than bacteria. Their structures are similar to bacteria, but they have a difference chemical composition of their cell wall and cell membrane. Many of them live in extreme environments, such as hot springs and places lacking oxygen.
What are the general characteristics of organisms in Kingdom Protista?
The kingdom includes all organisms which are not classified into other kingdoms. They can be unicellular or multicellular. Some are animal-like and some are plant-like.
List 3 examples of protists.
Algae, slime mould, protozoa
List 4 examples of algae.
Green algae (Phylum Chlorophyta)
Brown algae (Phylum Phaeophyta)
Red algae (Phylum Rhodophyta)
Diatoms (Phylum Bacillariophyta)
Which organisms do algae resemble and why?
They resemble plants because they carry out photosynthesis.
What are the characteristics of slime mould?
They exist as unicellular Amoeba-like cells in feeding stage. They have spores that are carried by wind.
List 2 examples of protozoans.
Paramecium, Amoeba
Why are protozoans not classified as animals?
They are uni-cellular and have a low complexity, with no specialisation of cells.
What are the characteristics of organisms in Kingdom Fungi?
They are made up of a single cell or thread-like structures called hyphae. They have cell wall made up of chitin. They do not have roots, stem, leaves, nor chlorophyll, so they cannot make their own food.
What are the methods of nutrition of organisms in Kingdom Fungi?
They are saprophytes or parasites since they cannot make their own food.
List 4 examples of fungi.
bread mould, penicillium, yeast, and mushrooms.
What are the characteristics of organisms in Kingdom Plantae?
All plant cells have a cellulose cell wall are green plants contain chloroplasts. They carry out autotrophic nutrition and use photosynthesis to make their own food.
What are the characteristics of organisms in Kingdom Animalia?
Animal cells have no cell wall and they cannot produce their own food. They must take in food.
Describe the phylogenetic relationships between Holothuria floridana, Holothuria tubulosa, and Urophycis floridana.
Since Holothuria floridana and Holothuria tubulosa share the same genus, they are more closely related to each other than with Urophycis floridana, which belongs to another genus.
Although Holothuria floridana and Urophycis floridana share the same species name, they are two different species since they have different genus names. Therefore they are less closely related than Holothuria floridana and Holothuria tubulosa.
What are the characteristics of viruses?
They are not classified as organisms. They do not have cell membrane, nucleus, or cytoplasm. They can only reproduce inside living cells of other organisms.
List 5 classes in the Phylum Chordata.
Class Pisces (fish), Class Amphibia (amphibians), Class Reptilia (reptiles), Class Aves (birds), Class Mammalia (mammals)
What is the difference between poikilotherms and homoiotherms?
Poikilotherms are cold-blooded and their internal body temperature varies with ambient temperature. Homoiotherms are warm-blooded and their internal body temperature remains relatively constant.
What are the differences in survival rate of poikilotherms and homoiotherms?
Homoiotherms have a higher survival rate since they are less susceptible to the changes in environment that causes the changes in enzymes in the bodies.
What are the differences in energy usage of poikilotherms and homoiotherms?
Homoiotherms use more energy since energy is required to maintain the relatively constant body temperature. A lower ambient temperature causes the body to consume more energy for muscle contraction in shivering, higher heart rate to increase blood flow etc.
What are the characteristics of organisms in Class Pisces?
Their bodies are covered with wet slimy scales. They have fins and a streamlined body for movement. They live in water and use gills to carry out gas exchange. Most of them reproduce through external fertilisation. They are poikilotherms.
List one exception of reproduction method for fish.
Fish usually reproduce through external fertilisation, but sharks reproduce through internal fertilisation.