Species + Taxonomy 2 Flashcards
What is the difference between classification and taxonomy?
Classification is the grouping of organisms and Taxonomy is the theory and practice of biological classification
What are the two main forms of biological classification?
Artificial classification and phylogenetic classification
What is artificial classification?
Dividing organisms based on observable differences useful at the time, like colour, size or number of legs
What are analogous characteristics?
Features that perform the same function but have different evolutionary origins. For example, the wings of birds and butterflies
What is phylogenetic classification based on?
Evolutionary relationships between organisms and their ancestors
What is the highest taxonomic rank?
A domain
What are the three domains?
Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya
Name three features of bacteria
They are membrane - bounded organelles, have the cell walls made up of murein and have 70S ribosomes
What type of DNA do bacteria have?
A single loop of naked DNA with no histones
What are key features of Eukarya?
Eukarya have membrane - bounded organelles, possess larger 80S ribosomes and have no murein in their cell walls
What happens as you go down the taxonomic hierarchy? (from family to genus)
Differences between organisms become less obvious
What is phylogeny?
Phylogeny is the evolutionary relationship between organisms
How are phylogenic relationships between species usually shown?
They are shown using a tree - like diagram called a phylogenetic tree
In a phylogenetic tree, where is the oldest species shown and what do the ends of the branches represent?
Oldest species are shown at the base of the tree and the ends of the branches represent the most recent species
