Unit 1- taxonomy,characteristics of life, and chemical compounds of life Flashcards
what is an organism?
an individual living thing
what is biology?
the study of living things
what are the characteristics of a scientific name?
1) usually Latin roots
2) composed of 2 words:
•1st word=genus
•2nd word=species
3) 1st word (genus) capitalized
2nd word (species) lowercase
4) must be underlined or italicized
name the classification levels/taxonomic levels from most general to most specific
Domain Kingdom Phylum (Division for plants) Class Order Family Genus Species
what is taxonomy?
a branch of biology that deals with the classifying and naming of living things
who is the “father of taxonomy”?
Carolus Linnaeus-
•a Swedish botanist
which two kingdoms were in the original classification system?
plant and animal
what was the original classification system based on?
physical characteristics of the organism
name the three domains
- bacteria
- archaea
- eukarya
describe this domain: bacteria
- this domain contains decomposers, photosynthesizers, & few cause disease
- bacteria come in many shapes
- contains the kingdom eubacteria
describe this domain: archaea
- life’s extremists:
- •methanogens: “methane makers”
- •extreme halophiles: “salt lovers”
- •extreme thermophiles: “heat/cold lovers”
- they are believed to be extremely ancient
- includes kingdom eubacteria
describe this domain: eukarya
includes these kingdoms:
•protista: single celled
- fungi: mushrooms, molds, yeast
- plantae: flowering plants, mosses, ferns, gymnosperms
- animalia: contains many organisms
describe this kingdom: Plantae
- domain: eukarya
- photosynthetic
- autotrophs
describe this kingdom: Animalia
- domain: eukarya
- multicellular
- heterotrophs
describe this kingdom: archaebacteria
- more ancient than eubacteria
- live in very extreme environments, so it is rare than we come into contact with them
- currently in the domain Archaea
describe this kingdom: Eubacteria
- they are commonly found in the same environment we are in, so we come into contact with them all the time
- they are currently in the domain Archaea
what is the discussion about bacteria?
scientists argue about whether bacteria should be in the same kingdom called monera, or if they should remain in two different kingdoms like they are now (archaebacteria & eubacteria)
describe this kingdom: Protista
- includes mostly unicellular organisms
- in domain eukarya (so they have a nucleus)
- can be heterotrophic or autotrophic
- most live in water
- two main groups: Algae and Protozoa
describe this kingdom: fungi
- in domain eukarya (have a nucleus)
- includes yeast, molds, mushrooms
- they are heterotrophic
- could be sexual or asexual
what is binomial nomenclature?
- it means “two names”
- it is the way to write a scientific name for organisms
- ex: Ho̠m̠o̠ s̠a̠p̠i̠e̠n̠s̠
what is the criteria for classification of organisms?
- biochemical information
- •DNA (genetic information), protein analysis
- cytological information (cell structure)
- embryonic development
- behavior
why do we use scientific names?
1) organisms have one scientific name, but could have multiple different common names
2) common names vary based on location
3) common names can be misleading or confusing
what is a taxonomic key?
- a tool used to identify organisms already classified by taxonomists
- aka dichotomous keys
- consists of a series of paired statements that describe alternative characteristics of the organism
- ex: finding a leaf and finding out what tree it came from
what is a prokaryotic cell?
- cell without a nucleus
- DNA not organized
- bacteria