diversity of living things CHAPTER 1

Question 1

what is the census of marine life ?

Answer 1

a 10-year project with the goal of learning more about the diversity and distribution of marine life

• several countries
• classifying everything they catch
• there is a fear that the marine life has limited time

Question 2

for every species found, there are estimated __ others that are unknown

Answer 2

estimated to be 4 others that are unknown (we only discover about 25%

Question 3

definition of species

Answer 3

a group of organisms that can interbreed in nature and produce fertile offspring

Question 4

how many species have scientists identified ?

Answer 4

2 million species on earth

Question 5

what is the estimated total number of species on earth ?

Answer 5

5 million to 20 million

Question 6

when and where was the titi monkey discovered ?

Answer 6

2005 in Bolivia

Question 7

how was the titi monkey named ?

Answer 7

the right to name the monkey was sold on ebay, instead of the traditional way

• $650 000
• the money was used to turn the jungle into a reserve

Question 8

what are the advantages and disadvantages of the biological species concept ?

Answer 8

advantage- the species concept is widely used by scientists
disadvantage- when the populations are physically separated
-when the organisms reproduce asexually through mitosis
-fossil species/extinct species

Question 9

definition of taxonomy

Answer 9

the branch of biology that identifies, names and classifies species

Question 10

who is the father of taxonomy ?

Answer 10

carolus Linnaeus created the system for naming species: binomial nomenclature

Question 11

definition of binomial nomenclature

Answer 11

the system of giving a two-word Latin name to each species-the first part is the genus and the second part is the species

Question 12

how do you write/type binomial nomenclature ?

Answer 12

italicized when typed
both parts are underlined when written by hand
genus name is capitalized and the species is in lower case (Homo sapien)

Question 13

definition of hierarchical classification

Answer 13

the method of classifying organisms in which species are arranged in categories from most general to most specific

Question 14

what is a rank ?

Answer 14

each of the 8 taxonomic categories

Question 15

what is a taxon ?

Answer 15

the name of each rank

Question 16

name the 8 taxonomic ranks

Answer 16

domain
kingdom
phylum 
class
order
family
genus
species

Question 17

what is morphology ?

Answer 17

body shape, size, structural features

Question 18

how do scientists determine how much of the evolutionary histories of two species is shared ?

Answer 18

three main types of evidence: anatomy, physiological, DNA

Question 19

definition of anatomy

Answer 19

the branch of biology that deals with structure and form, including internal systems

Question 20

give an example of anatomy

Answer 20

archaeopteryx (#1 piece of evidence)
shows that dinosaurs have evolved into birds
both have bones with large hollow spaces
the arrangement of bones is similar
scales and feathers

Question 21

name some animals with homologous structures

Answer 21

the same bones are formed in the forelimbs of these mammals: whale, bat, human, horse

Question 22

definition of physiology

Answer 22

the branch of biology dealing with the physical and chemical functions of organisms, including internal processes
-also includes studying the biochemistry of organisms including the proteins they make

Question 23

give 2 examples of physiological evidence

Answer 23

1. guinea pigs are considered to be in the rodent order, studies of protein structures suggest that guinea pigs are sufficiently different from other rodents that they should be placed in a separate order
2. studies of blood proteins of the horseshoe crab shows that they are more closely related to modern spiders than crabs

Question 24

example of DNA evidence

Answer 24

animals and fungi are more closely related to each other than plants and fungi
a mushroom and alligator are more closely related than a mushroom and a flower
canadas turkey vulture appears similar to vultures from Asia and Africa
DNA indicates that turkey vultures are more closely related to storks
we share 98% the same DNA as chimpanzees
every human is different by only 0.1%

Question 25

every organism was either a plant or an animal until ___

Answer 25

the 1800s

Question 26

up until the 90s, bacteria and archaea were one kingdom

Answer 26

called monera

Question 27

there were only __ kingdoms until the 90s

Answer 27

5 kingdoms

Question 28

what kingdom are viruses in ?

Answer 28

they don’t belong to a kingdom because they are thought to be both alive and dead

Question 29

what are the two major cell types

Answer 29

1. prokaryotic

2. eukaryotic

Question 30

‘before the nucleus”

Answer 30

prokaryotic

Question 31

“true nucleus”

Answer 31

eukaryotic

Question 32

difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic

Answer 32

prokaryotic (archaea, bacteria)
-doesn't have a membrane bound nucleus
-primitive cells, the ones that came first
-found in magma and deep in the earth
-usually small
eukaryotic (Protista, fungi, plantae, Animalia)
-up to 1000x larger than prokaryotic
-more complex
-have a membrane bound nucleus
-contains lots of organelles

Question 33

definition of dichotomous key

Answer 33

an identification tool consisting of a series of two-part choices that lead the user to a correct identification
-field guides

Question 34

what is an autotroph ? what is a heterotroph ?

Answer 34

autotroph
- called producers
- plants and algae
heterotroph
- called consumers 
-animals that eat autotrophs to obtain energy

Question 35

definition of species diversity

Answer 35

the variety and abundance of species in a given area

Question 36

definition of genetic diversity

Answer 36

the variety of inherited traits within a species

Question 37

what is the key to survival ?

Answer 37

high genetic diversity
animals with the same genes can die from a disease
i.e. Tasmanian devils

Question 38

what is a gene pool ?

Answer 38

genetic dive3rsity within a population

the gene pool is the sum of all the versions of all genes in a population

Question 39

what happened to Hawaii’s state bird ?

Answer 39

the nene bird was hunted to make stew
a giant tidal wave killed several Nenes
the mongoose were brought in to kill rats but instead ate nene eggs
ancient nenes had way more genetic diversity than nenes today
once down to 30 birds

Question 40

what are the benefits of genetic diversity ?

Answer 40

1. provides resistance to disease
   - allows populations and species to survive changing environmental conditions
   - if none of the individuals in a population have the ability to survive the disease, the entire population could be eliminated
2. supports conservation biology
   - the florida panthers had been reduced to 30-50 individuals
   - scientists introduced female panthers from a population in Texas
   - scientists have begun to use their knowledge to help struggling populations

Question 41

what is a monoculture ?

Answer 41

harvesting 1 type of species

-if a drought comes or locust disturbs the crops, all the crops can die if they’re not genetically diverse

Question 42

what are DNA bar codes ?

Answer 42

• invented at the University of Guelph by Paul Herbert
• with small pieces of tissue (no larger than the head of a pin), Herbert and his colleagues are working to assign DNA bar codes to every living species
• a database using species-specific DNA sequences that can act as tags or markers to identify unknown biomaterial

Question 43

what percent of fish sold in supermarkets are mislabelled ?

Answer 43

25%

Question 44

who would benefit/buy DNA barcodes ?

Answer 44

a doctor may use it to pinpoint disease-causing organisms quickly
health inspectors could scan foods for plant and animal contaminants
farmers would be able to identify pests and use species-specific methods for their removal