CHAPTER 7 Flashcards
Carl Linnaeus
Introduced taxonomy and is known as the father of modern taxonomy.
Taxonomy
the science of naming and organizing organism into related groups.
Binomial name
consists of both the genus name and the specific epithet.
how is the binomial name written
The genus name is always capitalized and the epithet is not. also the binomial name is always italicized.
what does it mean when organisms of different species belong to the same genus and genus name.
means that hey are very similar in overall form and are more closely related to each other than to members of any other genus.
how are epithets shared between organisms?
specific epithets may be shared by many organisms, regardless of how closely related they are.
Rule of priority
states that one a species has officially been given a binomial name, the name cannot be changed
what is an exception to the rule of priority
unless there turns out that the organism is not really a new species, in which case, the binomial name is abandoned.
what must a biologist do to give a new species a binomial name?
a biologist must publish a description of the species describing the list of characteristics that makes this species unique. this must be published in a peer-reviewed scientific publication.
peer-reviewed scientific publication
is one that is not published until it has been reviewed by other scientists to verify that the contents of the publication are legitimate and scientifically reasonable.
Holotype specimen
a holotype specimen is a physical example of the new species, doesn’t need to be whole, just needs the parts that make it a unique species.
interspecific variation.
individuals that differ in morphology because they belong to different species.
intraspecific variation.
individuals that belong to the same species but that have different morphologies.
what are potential sources to intraspecific variation.
- sexual dimorphism
- ontogenetic variation
- individual variation
- taphonomic variation.
ontogenetic variation.
the variation that you can see between young individuals and young individuals of the same species. besides size differences, changes in shape as they grow.
individual variation.
is the normal variation that exists among individuals of a given species.
taphonomic variation
taphonomic processes like plastic deformation can change the shape of the bone.
biological species concept
defines a species as a group of organisms that can successfully interbreed. works well for most plants and animals.
what is the problem with biological species concept ?
- it cannot be applied to the majority of those modern organisms that reproduce asexually which cannot interbreed at all.
- it cannot be applied to extinct animals because teasing if they can interbreed is impossible.
population
Is any group of organisms that live in the same geographic area and can interbreed.
the morphological concept
defines a species as a group of organisms that share a certain degree of physical similarity.
which concept is applied to paleontology and why?
because fossils are assumed to be of the same species if their physical similarities are consistent with the similarities that would be expected between members of the same species.
lumpers
paleontologists who require more differences before they consider two species to be distinct
splitters
paleontologists who require fewer differences before they consider two species to be distinct
how can the skull, pubis, vertebrae, and pelvis of a young and old Dino be distinguished?
a younger dinosaur would have the bones of the skull, vertebrae, and pelvis not tightly fused together, and you would be able to see the sutures between the individual bones.
