Lecture 3: Binomial Nomenclature Flashcards
Naming and categorization needs __ to avoid confusion
consistency
Common names have utility but lack __
specificity, often are confusing and would be difficult to conduct scientific studies with
Systematics
Systematics is a discipline focused on classifying organisms and determining their evolutionary relationships
The Binomial Nomenclature was founded by
- Carolus Linnaeus / Carl von Linné (1707 - 1778)
- First person to consistently use a two-part (bi-nomial) scheme to name organisms
The Binomial Nomenclature Method
- An organism’s scientific name is expressed in two parts, genus and species
Genus
given to a group of closely related organisms
Species
unique name given to a single kind of organism
Rules for Binomial Nomenclature
- The species name include both names of the binomial
- Both Genus and Species names are italicized
- Underlined, if you are handwriting
- First letter of Genus name in upper-case
- Genus name can be abbreviated after the first
appearance in that paper/report/article
Features of binomial nomenclature
- Names are unambiguous, unique, stable, universal
- Hierarchical and therefore, expandable
- Puts one category into a larger category
- Makes the system easily expandable
Classification using the hierarchical system
- Organize organisms by grouping smaller, related categories into larger ones
Classification rules
- Each layer of classification are called taxon (plural, taxa)
- All taxa names except for Genus/species are written in non-italics, first letter uppercase
- The structure is still being expanded
- for many lineages, the classification have additional
layers of taxa in-between the ones shown on this slide - For example, ‘sub-order’ under Order, ‘sub-family’ under Family
- The overall structure is still changing and is still disputed
Nomenclature is governed by international organizations
- International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN): naming ‘animals’
- International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN or ICNafp): naming organisms traditionally treated as algae, fungi, or plants
- International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP): naming Bacteria and Archaea
- International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV): naming Viruses
Interpreting systematics
- Systematics are made by human beings, and the classification may be quite arbitrary
Example of systematics being arbitrary
- We decided that spruces, pines and firs are different enough to be under different genera
- But they are similar enough to be in the same Family (Pinaceae)
How organisms were grouped into taxa may not reflect the degree of ___
diversity
It’s not uncommon for a Genus to only contain __ species which currently exist
1
- Cheetahs are the only member of the genus Acinonyx
- whereas the genus Felis include many small cats such as the European Wildcat, Sand cat and the Domestic cat
- Genus Acinonyx and Felis clearly do not contain the same amount of diversity
