4.5 Species and taxonomy

Question 1

Two organisms belong to the same species if…

Answer 1

they are able to produce fertile offspring

Question 2

Courtship behaviour is a necessary ________ to successful mating.

Answer 2

precursor

Question 3

The role of courtship in species recognition.

Answer 3

The performance-response nature of courtship behaviour (ie the fact that the courtship behaviour stimulates a response behaviour in an organism from the same gene pool) means that mating attempts only happen between sexually mature, sexually receptive individuals of the same species.

Question 4

A phylogenetic classification system attempts to…

Answer 4

arrange species into groups based on their evolutionary origins and relationships

Question 5

A phylogenetic classification system uses a hierarchy in which…

Answer 5

smaller groups are placed within larger groups, with no overlap between groups.

Question 6

Each group in a phylogenetic classification system is called a…

Answer 6

taxon (plural taxa)

Question 7

The taxa comprising the standard phylogenetic hierarchy are:

Answer 7

domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species

Question 8

Each species is universally identified by a binomial consisting of which two taxa?

Answer 8

genus and species

Question 9

The theory of evolution states that…

Answer 9

All new species arise from an existing species

Question 10

Evolution results in different species sharing a common ancestry, which explains the similarities between all living organisms. There are 4 similarities mentioned in the specification:

Answer 10

COMMON CHEMISTRY
All life on Earth shares a common chemistry (eg all proteins made from the same 20 amino acids). Despite their great variety, the cells of all living organisms contain only a few groups of carbon-based compounds that interact in similar ways.

COMMON PHYSIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS
The process of photosynthesis is common in all photoautotrophic organisms and the process of anaerobic respiration is common in all organisms, providing indirect evidence for evolution.

COMMON CELL STRUCTURE
All life on Earth exists as cells. These have basic features in common. Differences between cells are due to the addition of extra features.

DNA
The universal genetic code.