Lab 1 Taxonomy Flashcards
Define “taxonomy”
taxonomy is simply the ordering of a set of organisms accord to some system of characteristics
Explain how taxonomy has changed from when animals were first classified into groups to the current system
When organisms were first classified into groups, they were put into one of two major categories, plants or animals. At that time, most classification was based on gross morphology, such as shape, coulor, size and symmetry of the organism. Very little was known about the cell structure of the organism and even less about their biochemistry. As knowledge in these areas increased, it became apparent that many organism were neither clearly plants nor animals.
The two kingdom system was abandoned in favour of the five kingdom system which classified all living organisms into the kingdoms of Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae or Animalia. Further investigation at the molecular level has resulted in the introduction of a category higher than the kingdom, called the domain. A three domain scheme has been widely adopted, with the prokaryotes, formerly in kingdom Monera, now divided into the domains Archaea and Bacteria and the eukaryotes placed in a third domain, Eukarya. The Bacteria have been divided into at least 16 major groups – those in the table below are discussed in your text. Kingdom Protista has disappeared and its former members are now dispersed among many different tentative kingdoms within the Eukarya. The kingdoms Fungi, Plantae and Animalia remain basically unchanged within the domain Eukarya
Define “binomial nomenclature” and know how to properly write an organism’s scientific name
Linnaeus also devised the two-part or binomial system of naming organisms according to genus and species. The scientific name of each species consists of two Latin words, the first word is the genus to which the organism belongs and the second word is an adjective (called the specific epithet) describing the particular species. Both words are italicized or underlined and the genus name is capitalized, but the specific epithet is not. The scientific name (the name for the species) for the domestic dog is thus Canis familiaris, or abbreviated,
C. familiaris.
List the major taxonomic categories of the hierarchical classification system, from most to least inclusive.
Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
State the guidelines for properly building a dichotomous key and/or identify errors in an example dichotomous key
1) Only two choices (statements) are offered at each ‘branch’ of the key. Each statement should begin with the same word.
2) Branches located next to each other cannot use the same beginning word for their statements.
3) Negative characteristics should not be used. For example, statement or choice number one might read “Bean is round” and therefore, statement two should not state “Bean not as above”. A definite positive characteristic or statement should be made.
4) If possible, more than one characteristic should be included in the statements of the branches.
5) The number of branches needed for a key is usually equal to the number of organisms to be keyed out minus one.
Practice using the “Key to Life”
In notes
Appendage
any of the homologous body parts that may extent from a body segment. These include antennae, mouth parts, wings and legs. Typically, each body segment carries one pair of appendages
Bilateral symmetry
body symmetry in which a central longitudinal plane divides the body into two equal but opposite halves
cambium
a lateral meristem that thickens the root and shoots of woody plants
cone
a reproductive structure of gymnosperms in which pollen (males cones) and seeds (female cones) are produced
cotyledon
a seed leaf of an angiosperm embryo. Some species have one cotyledon, others have two
dioecious
individuals of the species are either male, producing pollen, or female, producing ovules. Dioecious species cannot self-fertilize
dorso-ventral
passing from the back to the belly surface of an animal
endoskeleton
a hard skeleton buried within the soft tisses of an animal, such as the plates of echinoderms, and the bony skeletons of vertebrates
eukaryotic
a single-celled or multicellular organism whose cells contain a distinct membrane-bound nucleous, numerous organelles and an extensive cytosketleton
