Lesson 7: What is a Species?

Question 1

Carl Linnaeus did a great and enduring service to all biologists by

Answer 1

introducing a new system for scientifically naming organisms.

Question 2

Linnaeus is considered to be the founding father of

Answer 2

modern taxonomy

Question 3

Taxonomy is the science

Answer 3

of naming and organizing organisms into related groups

Question 4

binomial name of a species consists of two parts:

Answer 4

the genus name, or generic name, and the specific epithet. Tyrannosaurus rex and our own binomial name Homo sapiens. Tyrannosaurus and Homo are the genus names, and rex and sapiens are the specific epithets.

Question 5

note that a binomial name is always

Answer 5

italicized

Question 6

Organisms that are different species but that belong to the same genus have the same

Answer 6

genus name

Question 7

the specific combination of genus name and specific epithet are not

Answer 7

permitted to be shared by any two species.

Question 8

The rule of priority states

Answer 8

once a species has officially been given a binomial name, the name cannot be changed (unless it turns out that the organism is not really a new species, in which case, the binomial name is abandoned)

Question 9

A peer-reviewed scientific publication is one that is not

Answer 9

published until it has been reviewed by other scientists to

verify that the contents of the publication are legitimate and scientifically reasonable.

Question 10

A holotype specimen is a

Answer 10

physical example of the new species, and it must be kept in a research institution, such as a university or a museum, so that other scientists may study it and be able to both verify that it is a distinct species and compare it to other potentially new species that are later discovered.

Question 11

Individuals that differ in
morphology because they belong to different
species represent

Answer 11

interspecific variation

Question 12

Individuals that belong to the same species, but

that have different morphologies, show

Answer 12

intraspecific variation

Question 13

males and females of the same species can look

different, and this is called

Answer 13

sexual dimorphism

Question 14

Ontogenetic variation is

Answer 14

the variation that you
can see between young individuals and old
individuals of the same species.

Question 15

Individual variation is

Answer 15

the normal variation that

exists among individuals of a given species

Question 16

taphonomic processes like
plastic deformation can change the shape of a
bone, resulting in

Answer 16

taphonomic variation

Question 17

The most common species concept is the

biological species concept, which defines a species as a

Answer 17

group of organisms that can
successfully interbreed. Nor can the biological species concept be applied to extinct organisms of any kind, since
testing whether or not two fossils can mate is
impossible

Question 18

A population is

Answer 18

any grouping of organisms that live in the
same geographic area and interbreed. One or
more populations make up a single species.

Question 19

The

morphological species concept defines

Answer 19

a
species as a group of organisms that share a
certain degree of physical similarity

Question 20

Paleontologists who
require more differences before they consider
two species to be distinct are called

Answer 20

lumpers.

Question 21

Paleontologists who require fewer differences
before they consider two species to be distinct
are called

Answer 21

splitters.