Describing and Arranging Organisms - MT2 - Part 1 Flashcards
Biological classification
Compiling an inventory of diversity
- common names
What factors can separate 2 species? (2)
- Essentialism
2. Population thinking
How do you separate species before evolution?
Essentialism
- different species had different essential traits
- eg) tapetail, whale fish and bignose, were thought to be different species but ti turns out they are the same speices just in different stages of its life
How do you separate after evolution?
Population thinking
- animals come form a common ancestor
- biological taxonomy is an inclusive hierarchy
Artificial classification
Group-defining do not correlate with other attributes
- biologists would not find this informative
- group all red things and all green things together even thought they may have nothing in common
Natural classification
Group-defining attributes that do correlate with other attributes
- groups plants together regardless of their colour
What did the first modern history works in natural history deal with? (2)
- Descriptive botany
2. Descriptive Zoology
What factors compelled natural historians to go beyond the ancient authors? (2)
- People bringing unidentified things back from their trips
- Printing press
What are zoologists primarily interested in? (2)
- Function
2. Adaptation
What are botanists more interested in? (2)
- Identification
2. Classification
What did botanists find important?
To be able to distinguish one species from another
- use of plant in medicine required being able to identify them
Who are the 2 most famous botanists of the world?
- Theophrastus
- Dioscorides
- both described about 500-600 plants
Herbarium
A library of dried and pressed plants
Who is herbarium credited to?
Luca Ghini
What does water do to plants?
It deteriorates them
- if you dry out water then the plant species can be preserved for a long amount of time
What did Buffon propose?
The the debris flung from a comet’s collision with the sun and became the planets
Theism
A belief system centred on one or more gods who are conscious beings with creative powers, plans, intentions and an ongoing involvement with the world and with humanity in particular
- would be include most religions, except for buddhism
Who is a theism? (3)
- Copernicus
- Galileo
- Newton
Deism
A belief in a conscious divine being who served as the cosmic first cause and designer, but thereafter took no interest in humanity or in the world
- is a belief without being a belief system
Who is a deism? (6)
- Voltaire
- Buffon
- B. Franklin
- G. Washington
- T. Jefferson
- A. Lincoln
Panthesim
There are no divine beings or conscious entities in a supernatural realm, but instead the world and its order and beauty are objects of spiritual life
- not a belief system
Who is a panthesim? (4)
- Paracelsus
- Spinoza
- Beethoven
- A. Einstein
Atheism
The belief either that gods dont exist or that there is insufficient evidence for their existence for us to accept any belief system centred on them
- not a belief system
Who is an atheism? (3)
- Fredrick II of Hohenstaufen
- C. Darwin
- B. Russel
What were Buffons contributions to major issues? (3)
- Classification
- Biogeography
- Evolution
Classification
Only the species level reflects a biological reality
- higher taxonomic levels do not
- Buffon eventually changed his mind
What did Buffon change his mind to?
He thought that hierarchy was the more correct was to view life
Biological species concept
Defines species in terms of interbreeding
Who is often credited with biogeography?
Buffon
What was the old view of biogeography?
After Noah’s ark landed on Mt. Ararat following the flood, the species contained therein wandered off an took up their current places and distribution in the world
What was Buffons view on biogeography?
There was a separate genesis (by spontaneous generation) of each form of life in each area, leading to an unchangeable interior mould of each species
- no miracles by some divine being because this implies god botched it from the beginning and had to fix things along the way
