The science of naming organisms. Taxonomy The science of naming organisms.
Aristotle Plant or animal? If an animal, does it Fly Swim Crawl Simple classifications Used common names
Carolus Linnaeus Described organisms with two word names, instead of polynomials Developed binomial nomenclature First word = genus name Second word = species name
Why binomial nomenclature? Much easier than a 10+ word name under old “polynomial system” Same name no matter where you go Less confusion Binomial = SCIENTIFIC NAME
Scientific Name examples Homo sapiens Canis lupus Felis domesticus
Taxonomic hierarchy Names organisms and their relationships from very broad to very specific
All organisms classified in a hierarchy Domain Kingdom (broadest) Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species (most specific) Did King Philip Come Over For Green Soup
How many are out there? Scientists currently estimate that There are 10 million species worldwide Over 5 million live in the tropics Most unnamed species are small or microscopic
Why is taxonomy useful? Helps prevent confusion among scientists Helps to show how organisms are related Can be used to reconstruct phylogenies – evolutionary histories – of an organism or group
Classification of Humans and Bears Humans Domain – Eukarya Kingdom – Animalia Phylum – Chordata Class – Mammalia Order – Primates Family – Hominidae Genus - Homo Species - sapiens Polar Bears Domain – Eukarya Kingdom – Animalia Phylum – Chordata Class – Mammalia Order – Carnivora Family – Ursidae Genus – Ursus Species - maritimus
A note on cladograms Graph showing when different groups diverged from a common ancestral line Points where they diverge are often noted with a feature that was different between ancestral group and a “new” feature in the group that split off.
Bird Cladogram
The 6 kingdoms Prokaryotes (Used to be 1 kingdom, Monera) Eukaryotes Archaebacteria Eubacteria Eukaryotes Fungi Protista Animal Plantae
Overview of the 6 kingdoms Archaebacteria Unicellular Live in extreme environments Prokaryotic Eubacteria “Common bacteria”
Overview of the 6 kingdoms Protista Eukaryotic Unicellular or colonial Lots of different life styles Fungi Cell walls made of chitin Multicellular
Overview of the 6 kingdoms Plantae Eukaryotic & Multicellular Cell walls made of cellulose Autotrophic Animalia No cell walls