Classification Flashcards
What is classification?
Arranging living organisms into groups based on their characteristics
In one system of classification, organisms are first arranged into five groups called kingdoms.
List the five kingdoms in this classification system.
- Plants - (grasses, trees, etc.)
- Animals - (fish, mammals, reptiles, etc.)
- Fungi - (mushrooms, yeasts)
- Prokaryotes - (all single-celled organisms without a nucleus)
- Protists - (eukaryotic single-celled organisms, e.g. algae)
The kingdoms are subdivided into smaller groups that have common features.
List the correct order of groups in the five kingdom classification system, from biggest to smallest.
- Kingdom
- Phylum
- Class
- Order
- Family
- Genus
- Species
Name the three domains in the three domain system.
- Archaea
- Bacteria
- Eukarya
Fungi are part of the Eukarya domain.
State three other types of organism in the Eukarya domain.
Plants, animals and protists
Describe the type of organisms in the Archaea domain.
Organisms in the Archaea domain look similar to bacteria but are actually quite different, as shown by differences in their genetic sequences
(Exam-style question)
Explain how DNA sequencing techniques can be used to determine relationships between organisms.
- The DNA sequences for the same gene in different organisms can be compared
- The more similar the DNA base sequences are to each other, the more closely related the organisms are
(Exam-style question)
Explain how genetic analysis led to the prokaryote kingdom being split into two domains.
- Genetic analysis led to the discovery that members of the prokaryote kingdom were not as closely related as previously thought
- Therefore, it was suggested that the organisms in it were to be split into the two domains of Archaea and Bacteria
