Introduction to Unit 2: Diversity of Living Things When you see this pencil…copy it down!

Organization in Our Lives We use various forms of classification in our everyday activities. We organize and group things to avoid confusion among objects, ideas, and events. What would life be like without classification systems? What would it be like trying to find an article in the newspaper’s classified section without the benefit of categories? Or using a phonebook without an alphabetical listing?

Organization of Life Just like we organize and categorize things to make it easier to identify….and our lives easier, we also organize living organisms. The science of classifying organisms is taxonomy. Taxonomy has two key purposes: To identify organisms Represent relationships among them. All organisms are organized into categories called taxons.

Names The names of some organisms are really inaccurate as a scientific label Examples: Inaccurate name – “frog” More precise names are tree frog grass frog bullfrog Names

Names… Inaccurate name – “worm” More precise name would be Earthworm Roundworm Tapeworm Names…

Names… Inaccurate name – “dog” More precise name would be Collie German shepherd Rottweiler Names…

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Divided organisms into two groups Classified plants on the basis of structure and size (herbs, shrubs, trees) Classified animals based on where they lived (air, land, sea)

John Ray (1625-1705) Decided that organisms should be named as well as classified Referred to organisms with the same characteristics and same kind of parents as belonging to the same species In the last part of the 17th century, Ray described and named over 18000 species of plants.

Charles Linné (1707-1778) Swedish botanist who made the greatest contribution to taxonomy! Decided that organisms should be grouped according to similarities in body structure Introduced a two-part system to name and classify organisms: binomial nomenclature Each organism is given a two-word Latin name (or in a Latin style), as Latin is not commonly used today.

Binomial Nomenclature “Binomial” means 2 names “Nomenclature” means a set or system of names or terms. Example: Humans Homo sapiens or Homo sapiens The first word is the genus to which an organism belongs. It is always capitalized. The second word is the species name (more specific) is not capitalized. Binomial Nomenclature

Why do we use scientific names? Scientific names are used in biology instead of common names because: Every living thing has a different scientific name. Scientific names seldom change. Scientific names are written in the same language around the world.

Examples of Binomial Nomenclature

Now… Complete Scientific Names Activity Scientific names of organisms usually derive from either Latin or Greek words and very often the word describes some feature of the organism – its appearance, how it moves, what it eats, where it lives, etc. Now… Complete Scientific Names Activity

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) Often called the “Father of Taxonomy”. His system for naming, ranking, and classifying organisms is still in wide use today. Linnaeus divided all living things into Kingdoms In his day, Linnaeus know of only two kingdoms: plants and animals. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/images/linnaeus.jpg

Kingdoms Today we have six (6) Kingdoms: Eubacteria Archaebacteria Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia

Today’s Classification Classifying organisms provides order and a logical way of naming things. Classifications are based on: Appearance and structure Example: number of limbs, body covering, number of heart chambers, etc. Development and biochemistry Cell type (prokaryote, eukaryote, similar organic compounds – such as composition of blood, chlorophyll). Likely common ancestry The greater the similarity of DNA (genes), the more closely related the organisms are.

Today’s Classifcation System… Today, the classification system we use to organize living organism doesn’t only include species, genus, and kingdom, but four other levels too… Today’s Classifcation System…

7 Levels of Taxonomy There are seven levels of taxonomy: Kingdom – largest grouping of living things Phylum – largest grouping within a kingdom Class – largest grouping within a phylum Order – largest grouping within a class Family – largest grouping within an order Genus – largest grouping within a family Species – largest grouping within a genus

To aid in your memory of the 7 levels, use one of the following sayings: Keep People Clear Of Fast Great Sharks King Phillip Came Over For Great Spaghetti Memory Aid!

This diagram shows how each level of taxonomy is directly related to the level before it. Kingdoms are made up of various phylum. Phylum are made up of various classes. Orders are made up of various classes. Family’s are made up of various orders. Genus and Specie are the scientific name.

Example: Mountain Lion There are six Kingdoms – an organism will fall into one of the six kingdoms. Example: Mountain Lion The Mountain Lion is an animal, therefore it falls into the Animal Kingdom.

There are 9 major phyla groups in the Animal Kingdom There are 9 major phyla groups in the Animal Kingdom. Each phyla contains specific details related to an organism. The Mountain Lion belongs to the Chordata Phylum because this phyla group is characterized by its organisms having a backbone / spine.

Each class has specific characteristics. There are six main classes of Animals in this world: mammals, birds, fishes, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. Each class has specific characteristics. The Mountain Lion belongs to the Mammal Class because it has fur and produces milk. http://sciencecastle.com/sc/index.php/animalspecies/showclasses

Which order does the mountain lion belong to? If we were to look at Mammals, there are 19 groups of ‘orders’ that they could possibly fall into. Each with specific characteristics. Which order does the mountain lion belong to? http://www.cftech.com/BrainBank/OTHERREFEREN CE/ANIMALWORLD/OrderMammals.html

There are many ‘family’ groups belonging to the Carnivora class. The Mountain Lion belongs to the “Felidae” family because this family includes all cats.

Genus is the first part of the organisms scientific name Genus is the first part of the organisms scientific name. It’s genus is from latin/greek. The Mountain Lion’s genus is “Puma”

Specie – is the second part of the organism’s scientific name. Based on unique characteristics of the Mountain Lion it falls into the species “concolor”.

Here is what we found out: The Mountain Lion belongs to the: The Animal Kingdom The Phyla “Chordata” The Class “Mammal” The Order “Carnivora” The Family “Felidae” The Genus “Puma” The Specie “concolor”

Conclusion & Helpful Tip! All together these seven levels helped scientists (and us today) to identify the specific scientific name given to the mountain lion. We were able to find out all kinds of other information about the mountain lion along the way too (from physical appearance, structure, physiology, to diet, etc.) Each level is very important in the classification of an organism…you can’t skip a level! Think of each level as a step that you must take the organism through in order to properly find its name (its scientific name). You could also look at it from the point of trying to find the organisms home – its exact location as to where it belongs!

The more classification groups that living organisms share (groups such as kingdom, phyla, class, etc.) the more closely related they are. Classification…

Classification Example Here are two examples of classifying living organisms – humans and killer whales. Each of the 7 levels of taxonomy are identified for each organism. Are we closely related to the Killer Whale? Explain. Classification Example

Dichotomous keys are classification manuals that are used to help biologists determine the scientific name of an organism. To use a key, you are given a series of options where you have to make one of two choices about your organism until ultimately you end up with its identification. SEE PAGE 33O IN TEXTBOOK! Dichotomous Keys

This is one type of dichotomous key in a ‘spider’ format as it kind of looks like a spider. Key example:

Your Activities for Today Complete: Classification Worksheet

Whale Key Activity ‘Activity 9.1.1. – Using a Classification Key’ (pages 332-333) In this activity, you will identify various species of whales using a dichotomous key.

The Fox & the Hare About every 10 years, a dramatic phenomenon plays out in Canada’s Boreal Forests. Populations of snowshoe hares and their predators go through a cycle of boom and bust. What do you think happens when fox populations are low? How does this eventually impact the fox populations? The fox is very efficient at killing hares, how does this effect the hare population? What is now happening to the fox’s food source? How does this impact the fox population? ALL LIVING THINGS EFFECT EACH OTHER! THIS IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE!