Classification Chapter 18
Taxonomy The field of biology that deals with classifying organisms. Each level is called a Taxon.
How do Taxonomists classify? Physical Structures Embryological Development Chemical Processes DNA
There are 8 major levels for classification!
Organisms within each category are: more closely related as you move from the domain toward the species level!
Species Recall… a species is a group of organisms that share most characteristics and can interbreed to produce fertile offspring.
Domains are: The largest groups in the modern classification system. There are 3 domains shown above.
The next level down from domain is… Kingdom
As shown above, each domain includes: Bacteria Archaea Eukarya Kingdom Eubacteria Archaebacteria Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia As shown above, each domain includes: 1 or more kingdoms of organisms
The domain Bacteria is made up of: Archaea Eukarya Kingdom Eubacteria Archaebacteria Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia The domain Bacteria is made up of: 1 Kingdom: Eubacteria “true bacteria”
Recall that bacteria: are single celled prokaryotes. Their cell walls contain a substance called peptidoglycan
The domain Archaea also contains: Bacteria Archaea Eukarya Kingdom Eubacteria Archaebacteria Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia The domain Archaea also contains: 1 kingdom, archaebacteria.
The cell walls of archaea DO NOT contain Peptidoglycan. Archaea live in extreme environments like thermal vents and salt lakes.
The domain Eukarya contains 4 kingdoms: Bacteria Archaea Eukarya Kingdom Eubacteria Archaebacteria Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia The domain Eukarya contains 4 kingdoms: Protista (protists), Fungi, Plantae (plants), and Animalia (animals)
All members of the Eukarya Kingdom are eukaryotes!
“Autotrophs - Organism that makes its own food Heterotroph - Feeds on other organisms.” –Johnny Appleseed
Kingdoms in the Domain Eukarya Characteristics Examples Protista Unicellular or Multicellular, nucleus, plasma membrane. May have a cell wall and chloroplasts, includes heterotrophs and autotrophs. Euglenas, algae, paramecia, amoebas Fungi Unicellular or multicellular, has a nucleus, plasma membrane, and cell wall. Only heterotrophs. Yeasts, mushrooms, molds, mildews Plantae Multicellular, nucleus, plasma membrane, cell wall, chloroplasts. Only autotrophs. Mosses, ferns, trees, grasses Animalia Multicellular, nucleus, plasma membrane, no cell wall or chloroplasts, only heterotrophs. Sponges, worms, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals
Kingdoms are divided into Phyla or Phylum Phyla are subdivided into classes, then orders, family, genera, and species.
Binomial Nomenclature Giving each organism a 2 part name
First part of name is genus: This includes related species
Second part of name identifies the organism’s species
Binomial Nomenclature was created by: A swedish botanist in the 1700’s: Carolus Linnaeus
Evolutionary history of a group of organisms. Phylogeny Evolutionary history of a group of organisms.
Scientists show the development of groups of organisms from a common ancestor in branching diagrams called Phylogenetic Trees.
Evolutionary Relationships can also be shown through: Cladograms
Dichotomous Keys A tool that can be used to determine the identity of something by matching observations to a series of paired statements or questions.