ACTIVITY 2 Flashcards
is a device that helps biologists to identify an unknown organism
taxonomic key
There are three types of taxonomic keys:
(a) Dichotomous keys, (b) Multi-access
keys, and (c) Bayesian keys
- most popular tool that consists of paired statements.
It allows the user to determine the identity of items using a sequence of alternative choices.
dichotomous key
comes from the Greek root dich-, meaning “two” and temnein, meaning “to cut.”
Dichotomous
always give two, mutually exclusive choices in parallel statements.
Dichotomous
The pair of statements is referred to as
couplet
1/2 of a couplet is a
a specific character state is described for this
lead
At each _____ of a dichotomous key the user is
presented with two choices about a specific character present in the group of organisms, a specific
character state is described for each lead.
couplet
which identify unknown objects or species. The keys
are generated using interactive computer programs.
use a process of elimination.
polycave or multi-access keys
The user is presented with a series of choices that describe features of the species they wish to
identify. The user then checks off a list of character states present in the organism they wish to
study. The program looks to match those character states with all the species they can possibly
match. If a species does not have that character state it is eliminated from the list. The more
character states listed the more species that are eliminated.
polycave or multi-access keys
are like multi-access keys, but the
identification is based on how many characters match. The more characters that match, the more
likely the specimen is to be a particular species.
Bayesian multi-access or Bayesian keys
Bayesian multi-access or Bayesian keys is based on _____, branch of statistics that specializes in predictions from limited prior knowledge.
Bayesian statistics
