5.3: Classification of biodiversity Flashcards
What is the binomial system and how was it developed?
● Key concept: The binomial system of names for species is universal among biologists and has been agreed and developed as a series of congresses.
● It was initially developed by a Swedish botanist named Carolus Linnaeus in 1735.
● It is periodically accessed and updated at a series of intentional congresses which occur every 4 years.
What is the significance of the binomial system of nomenclature?
● It allows for the identification and comparison of organisms based on recognized characteristics.
● It allows all organisms to be named according to a globally recognized scheme.
● It can show how closely related organisms are, allowing for the prediction of evolutionary links.
● It makes it easier to collect, sort, and group information about organisms.
How are species given scientific names upon their discovery? What are the writing convention of this scientific name?
● Key concept: When species are discovered, they are given scientific names using the binomial system.
● According to the binomial system of nomenclature, every organism is designated a scientific name with two parts:
- Genus is written first and is capitalized.
- Species is written second in lowercase.
- Some species may occasionally have a subspecies designation.
● Written conventions:
- When typing the scientific name, it should be presented in italics.
- When handwriting the scientific name, it should be underlined.
What is a domain? How many are there? List them.
● Domains are the broadest categorization of organisms.
● Key concept: All organisms are classified into three domains.
● The three domains are: Eubacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryota.
In traditional classification systems, how many major categories were there? What were they? Why is it different now?
● In traditional classification systems, there were only two main categories based on cell types: eukaryotes and prokaryotes.
● More recently, prokaryotes have been found to be very diverse, thus making this system of classification inappropriate and sparking the creation of a third group.
- Prokaryotes are now split into two separate categories: eubacteria and archaea.
What are the general features of bacteria?
● Histones associated with DNA: Absent
● Presence of introns: Rare or absent
● Structure of cell walls: Made of chemical called peptidoglycan
● Cell membrane differences: Glycerol-ester lipids; unbalanced side chains; d-form of glycerol
What are the general features of archaea?
● Histones associated with DNA: Proteins similar to histones bound to DNA
● Presence of introns: Present in some genes
● Structure of cell walls: Not made of peptidoglycan
● Cell membrane differences: Glycerol-ether lipids; unbranched side chains; l-form of glycerol
What are the general form of eukaryota?
● Histones associated with DNA: Present
● Presence of introns: Frequent
● Structure of cell walls: Not made of peptidoglycan; not always present
● Cell membrane differences: Glycerol-ether lipids, unbranched side chains; d-form of glycerol
What domain are viruses classified in?
None of them. They have too few of the characteristics of life to be regarded as living organisms.
What are the principal taxa for classifying eukaryotes? List them in order from most broad to most specific,
In order: Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
How many kingdoms of eukaryotes are generally recognized by most biologists? What are they?
- Plants, animals, fungi, and protoctista.
Application: Classify one animal species from domain to species level.
(ie. Humans)
Answers may vary. (Example for humans:) Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Family: Hominidae Genus: Homo Species: sapien
Application: Classify one plant species from domain to species level.
(ie. Date palm)
Answers may vary. (Example for date palm:) Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Angiospermophyta Class: Monocotyledoneae Order: Palmales Family: Arecaceae Genus: Phoenix Species: dactylifera
