Classification Flashcards
Classification
the arrangement of animals and plants in taxonomic groups according to their observed similarities
Taxonomy
the branch of science concerned with classification, especially of organisms; systematics.
Binomial nomenclature
a system of nomenclature in which each species of animal or plant receives a name of two terms of which the first identifies the genus to which it belongs and the second the species itself.
Taxon
a taxonomic group of any rank, such as a species, family, or class.
Genus
a class of things that have common characteristics and that can be divided into subordinate kinds.
Family
A taxonomic rank in the classification of organisms between genus and order. (2) A taxonomic group of one or more genera, especially sharing a common attribute.
Order
a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized by the nomenclature codes
Class
is a taxonomic rank, as well as a taxonomic unit, a taxon, in that rank.
Phylum
a principal taxonomic category that ranks above class and below kingdom.
Division
a rank that if treated as a division of a genus or subgenus is deemed to be of subgeneric rank for the purposes of nomenclature. 3. A taxon at the rank of division
Kingdom
The highest classification into which living organisms are grouped in Linnean taxonomy, ranking above a phylum.
Domain
In biological taxonomy, a domain (Latin: regio), also superkingdom or empire, is the highest taxonomic rank of organisms in the three-domain system of taxonomy designed by Carl Woese, an American microbiologist and biophysicist.
Phylogeny
the branch of biology that deals with phylogenesis.
Characters
A character is any letter, number, space, punctuation mark, or symbol that can be typed on a computer. The word “computer,” for example, consists of eight characters
Molecular clock
The molecular clock is figurative term for a technique that uses the mutation rate of biomolecules to deduce the time in prehistory when two or more life forms diverged.
Cladistics
a method of classification of animals and plants according to the proportion of measurable characteristics that they have in common. It is assumed that the higher the proportion of characteristics that two organisms share, the more recently they diverged from a common ancestor.
Cladogram
a branching diagram showing the cladistic relationship between a number of species.
Archaea
another term for archaebacteria.
Protists
any of a diverse taxonomic group and especially a kingdom (Protista synonym Protoctista) of eukaryotic organisms that are unicellular and sometimes colonial or less often multicellular and that typically include the protozoans, most algae, and often some fungi (such as slime molds)
Fungus
any of a group of unicellular, multicellular, or syncytial spore-producing organisms feeding on organic matter, including molds, yeast, mushrooms, and toadstools.
