Taxonomy Flashcards
What is phylogeny?
The study of the evolutionary history of groups of organisms.
What does phylogeny tell us?
What organisms are related to each other and how closely they are related.
How does a phylogeny tree work?
The first branch shows a common ancestor of all the organisms. Each of the following branches represents another common ancestor from which a different group diverged. Closely related species diverged from each other most recently.
What is taxonomy?
The science of classification.
What are the groups into which organisms are separated into called?
taxa
What are the names of the groups?
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
What is a hierarchy?
When organisms are separated into groups with no overlaps.
What is a species?
A group of similar organisms that can reproduce and give fertile offspring.
What is courtship behaviour?
Behaviour is carried out by an organism that attracts a mate of the right species.
Why is courtship behavior species-specific?
Only organisms of that species will do and respond to that courtship behaviour.
Why is it important that courtship behaviour be species-specific?
So that members of that species can recognise each other and this ensures there won’t be interbreeding and reproduction will be successful.
How can courtship behaviours be used to classify organisms?
The more closely related a species is the more similar their courtship behaviour.
How is genome sequencing used to classify organisms?
The entire DNA base sequence of an organism can be determined. It can then be compared to the base sequence of another organism. The more similar the DNA base sequence is the more closely related the organisms are.
How can comparing the amino acid sequence used to classify organisms?
The amino acid sequence is controlled by the DNA base sequence. The more similar the amino acid sequences of two organisms are the more similar their DNA base sequence is. This means that they are more closely related.
How can immunological comparisons be used to classify organisms?
Similar proteins will bind to the same antibodies. This then forms a precipitate which can be seen.
