Overarching Theme Change through Time TAXONOMY Organizing Lifes Diversity Big Idea Biologists use a system of classification

on to organize information about the diversity of living things. The most widely used classification system has six kingdoms within three domains.
Taxonomy = a discipline of biology primarily concerned with identifying, naming and classifying species based on natural relationships. i) Why? - identification/organization (over 2 million species on the planet!) - looking for evolutionary relationships ii) Keep in mind; these systems are ARTIFICIAL since the relationships between organisms are usually much more complex than our taxonomies (classification systems) account for. Modern Taxonomy - Scientists have been developing classification systems for more than 2000 years, starting with Aristotle in 394-322 B.C., based on physical characteristics only - System we use today developed by Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist (1700s) - Developed the system of naming called Binomial Nomenclature that we still use today - This system assigns two names to each organism. These are the genus and species names. (The first part of the name is the genus name, the second part is the species name) - Latin (and sometimes Greek) is used for the names. Latin is used as it is a dead language and, thus, does not change. So scientific names of organisms become permanent.

Example depending on where you live, you might recognize this animal as a puma, mountain lion, cougar or panther. These are all common names for the same animal. The scientific name is Felis concolor. Using a common classification system eliminates confusion caused by common names. Species names are the basic unit of biological classification Recall, a species is a group of organisms that generally look alike and can interbreed under normal circumstances to produce fertile offspring. Binomial nomenclature also indicates evolutionary relationships between species. o Example Ursus americanus (black bear) Ursus horribilus (grizzly bear) NOT in ursus genus Phascolarctos cinereus (koala bear) since not actually a bear!

Rules For Naming 1. When word processed, both parts of scientific name must be italicized. 2. When written by hand, both parts of scientific name must be underlined. 1|Page

3. First letter of genus name is always capitalized; all other letters lowercase. 4. Species name is never used on its own Dichotomous Keys What are they? o two-part keys used to identify living things o involves a series of choices (like Choose Your Adventure Stories), each choice leads to a new set of choices o Example

Levels of Classification i) Do Kings Play Chess on Funny Green Stones? Today, we use more than two levels of taxa (groups), not just genus and species. In total we use eight taxa. From largest to smallest, they are; Domain broadest of all, contains one or more kingdoms Kingdom composed of related phyla Phylum includes many different organisms that share important characteristics Class group of similar orders Order broad group consisting of similar families Family consists of similar, related genera Genus group that is closely related and share a common ancestor Species similar organisms that can interbreed NOW, figure out an acronym to help you remember the order.

ii)

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The Evolution of Taxonomy - Six Kingdoms within Three Domains Model In Bi 11 we used to use the more traditional 5 kingdom model (Protista, Monera, Plantae, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia), however recent molecular analyses and the discovery of an entirely new kind of organism in the 1970s forced a new way to organize living things (see handout The New Tree of Life) Summary of classifying organisms into taxonomic groups

DOMAIN KINGDOM CELL TYPE CELL STRUCTURES

Bacteria Eubacteria prokaryotic Cell walls with peptidoglycan

Archaea Archaebacteria prokaryotic Cell walls without peptidoglycan

NUMBER OF CELLS

unicellular

unicellular

MODE OF NUTRITION EXAMPLES

Autotroph or heterotroph Streptococcus, Escherichia coli

Autotroph or heterotroph Methanogens, halophiles

Eukarya Protista eukaryotic Cell walls with cellulose in some; some have chloroplasts Most unicellular; some colonial;some multicellular Autotroph or heterotroph Amoeba, Paramecium, slime molds

Eukarya Fungi eukaryotic Cell walls with chitin

Eukarya Plantae eukaryotic Cell walls with cellulose; chloroplasts multicellular

Eukarya Animalia eukaryotic No cell walls or chloroplasts

Most multicellular; some unicellular heterotroph Mushrooms, yeasts, molds

multicellular

autotroph Mosses, ferns, flowering plants, algae

heterotroph Sponges, worms, insects, fish, mammals

Modern Evolutionary Classification - As discussed above, classification systems have changed over time as scientific information has increased - Darwins theory of evolution changed the entire way that biologists considered classification (common ancestors, organisms change over time) - Biologists now group organisms into categories that represent lines of evolutionary descent, not just physical similarities as was done by Aristotle and Linnaeus o Phylogenetic species concept (developed in 1940s) Phylogeny = evolutionary history of a species Using evolutionary history to classify has benefits Accounts for animals that look very different but are genetically similar Uses genetic information from DNA/RNA analysis to determine similarities between organisms Accounts for in-between species, those that dont fit neatly in one kingdom. E.g. Cyanobacteria aquatic and photosynthetic, part plant, part eubacteria Connection to Biological Theme What role does the concept of Change through Time play in Biological Classification? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

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__________________________________________________________________________________ __________ Does taxonomic classification place emphasis on the similarities between organisms, the differences between organisms, or both? Explain your reasoning. __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

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