Classification 2nd year topic 1 Flashcards
Define biodiversity
The variety of life on earth. The total number of different species found in an ecosystem, and the resulting complexity of interactions between them.
What is taxonomy?
There are millions of living organisms in the world. Scientists work to name and group all of these living organisms based upon the structural characteristics and evolutionary relationships.
Define taxonomy
The science whereby living organisms are classified and placed into categories based on their structural characteristics and evolutionary relationships.
What can we call a group or a category in taxonomy?
Taxon
How are living organisms divided into these specific taxa?
Living organisms are grouped based on common characteristics. (similarities)
First living things are divided into 1 major group. Then this large main group is divided into smaller and smaller groups. The groups become smaller and smaller, however the organisms within that group become more similar to each other. (ACCORDING TO THE DEGREE OF SIMILARITY BETWEEN THEM)
Name every single taxon.
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Which is the biggest and the smallest taxon?
Kingdom (largest)
Species (smallest)
What does the Kingdom contain?
It contains a wide variety of organisms from a large blue whale to a mosquito
What does the Species contain?
This is the last and smallest group. The members of this taxon are so similar that they can interbreed and produce fertile offspring
The quantity of organisims decreases as groups get smaller,and the levels of similarities between them increase
True or false. + reason
Taxonomy is an inexact science.
True.
This is because sometimes there can be controversies when it comes to grouping organisms in the specific categories, especially when it comes to asexually reproducing organisms.
What do we call each 7 groups of taxa?
Linnaean Classification
True or false.
The number of organisms in each group decreases, the similarities between the group members increases.
True
Define the term “Species”
A group of organisms that can interbreed naturally amongst themselves and produce fertile offspring.
Name the 5 Kingdoms of Life.
Kingdom: Monera, Protoctista, Fungi, Animalia and Plantae.
Why isn’t there a main Kingdom for viruses?
Because viruses are considered to be borderline between living and non-living organisms, since they do not perform the 7 vital functions. Viruses need a host cell in order to replicate.
What does the Kingdom Monera consist of?
Bacteria which are unicellular organisms
Are bacteria prokaryotic or eukaryotic?
Prokaryotic: no membrane bound organelles and no membrane bound nucleus
How do bacteria replicate?
(Asexual reproduction) By binary fission. Bacteria simply split into 2 and produce 2 daughter cells.
Sometimes bacteria can also reproduce by budding or fragmentation
What is conjugation?
When bacteria exchange genetic information wit each other
Do bacteria mutate often?
Yes, this causes them to adapt much ore quicker to their enviorment.And this is why bacteria become resistant to antiobiotics,and new antibiotics need to be produced.
How do bacteria carry out respiration/obtain energy?
(Obligate aerobes)Aerobic respiration: they obtain oxygen from the environment by diffusion (carried out in the cytoplasm)
(Obligate anaerobes) : there are some bacteria which oxygen for them is toxic. They will die when exposed to oxygen
. In this case anaerobic respiration occurs.
Facultative anaerobes: they perform anaerobic respiration when oxygen is absent but perform aerobic respiration when oxygen is present
Differentiate between parasitic and saprophytic bacteria.
Parasitic: bacteria which cause disease.
Saprophytic: feed on dead decaying organic matter
There are also symbiotic bacteria preset
Differentiate between autotropic and heterotrophic bacteria
Autotrophic: bacteria which are photosynthetic (can carry out photosynthesis)
Heterotopic: they live off other living organisms
Give examples where bacteria can be harmful and where it can be beneficial.
Harmful: causes illnesses.
Beneficial: in the making of yogurt or cheese. or to make medicines and fight disease like antibiotics.
