1. Natural Resource & Environmental Science
Wildlife

2. Introduction to the Biosphere
Biological Classification of Organisms

3. Biosphere?
The regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the earth occupied by living organisms.

4. Classification - How it Works
Living things (organisms) are broken down into groups with similar traits
This is called, Biological classification
Biological classification begins with big, general groups and gets smaller and more specific as they are broken down further

5. There are eight levels at this time*:
Domain (Super-Kingdom)
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

6. The DOMAIN is the highest ranking of Biological classification at this time*
Currently 3 Domains:
Archaea - single-celled microorganisms – prokaryotes (no cell nucleus)
Eubacteria - "true bacteria,"
Eukaryota
We belong to the Domain Eukaryota –
Which includes organisms with cells that contain a nucleus

7. KINGDOM
For many years there were 5 Kingdoms: Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, and Monera
However, with the adoption of the Domain Level the present 4 Kingdoms are as follows:
Animalia
Plantae
Fungi
Protista (Protista, which includes plant-like algae, animal- like protozoans and fungi-like slime molds may well be broken up into different groups in years to come.)

8. PHYLA (plural of phylum)
Kingdom Animalia currently has 9 Phyla:
Chordata (Chordates – mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, etc)
Mollusca (Mollusks – snails, octopus, & clams)
Porifera (Sponges)
Cnidaria (Corals & Jellyfish)
Platyhelminthes (Flatworms)
Nematoda (Roundworms)
Annelida (Segmented Worms – earthworms & leeches)
Arthropoda (Arthropods – insects, spiders, crabs, centipedes & millipedes)
Echinodermata (Echinoderms – starfish, sea urchins, & sea cucumbers)

9. CLASS Phylum Chordata is made up of many Classes: Mammalia (Mammals)
Amphibia (Amphibians)
Aves (Birds)
Osteichthyes (Fish) or Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish)
Reptilia (Reptiles)
Chondrichthyes (Sharks & Rays)

10. Class Mammalia 2 subclasses:
Prototheria (monotrenes – like duck billed platypus)
Theria (giving birth to live young)   
Then Theria has 2 infraclasses:
Eutheria (placental mammals like us)
Metatheria (marsupial mammals like kangaroos and koalas)

11. ORDER Infraclass Eutheria (placental mammals) includes the ORDERS:
Carnivora (meat-eaters)
Cetacea (whales and purpoises)
Edentata or Xenarthra (toothless mammals)
Tubulidentata (aardvarks)
Hyracoidae (hyraxes, dassies)
Lagomorpha (pikas, hares, and rabbits)
Artiodactyla (even-toed hoofed animals)
Perissodactyla (odd-toed hoofed animals)
Chiroptera (bats)
Dermoptera (colugos or flying lemurs)
Pholidata (pangolins)
Sirenia (dugongs and manatees)
Proboscidea (elephants)
Rodentia (gnawing mammals)
Primates (humans, apes, lemurs and monkeys)

12. FAMILY The Order Primates is made up of many Families.
Humans are in the Family Hominidae
There are also the families:
Tupalidae (tree shrew)
Lemuridae (lemurs)
Daubentonlidae (aye-ayes)
Lorisidae (lorises, pottos)
Tarsiidae (tarsiers)
Callitrichidae (marmosets)
Cebidae (New World monkeys)
Cercopithecidae (baboons, Old World monkeys)
Hylobatidae (gibbons)
Pongidae (gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans)

13. Genus species Family Hominidae was once made up of many genera
Humans are included in the genus Hominidae
All the other genera in the Family Hominidae are extinct
Lastly comes SPECIES
As the only living organism living in the genus Homo, our one species is sapiens
Organisms are called by their genus and species (species is always lower case), so we are Homo sapiens
A helpful way to remember the order of Biological classification is: Dear  > King  >  Phillip  > Came  > Over  >  From  > Germany   >  Saturday
Domain > Kingdom > Phylum > Class > Order > Family > Genus > Species
*Due to changing classification, this may be updated over time. As of 2008, this is the accepted Biological classification.

14. Classification Handout

16. Species The term has its origins in the ancient Latin language.
The word species means kind.
Technical definition is a group of interbreeding organisms that DO NOT ordinarily breed with members of other groups.
Biologists estimate that about 10 to 40 million different species inhabit the Earth.
Of these species, approximately 1.5 million have been classified.

17. Animal Classification
To classify animals, consider the backbone.
Animals with a backbone are called
vertebrates.
Animals w/o a backbone are called
invertebrates.
95 percent of all animals are invertebrates.
Some, like worms, have soft bodies with no bones at all.
other invertebrates, like snails, have soft bodies, but carry a hard shell for protection
soft-bodied invertebrates that live in water or on land are grouped as
mollusks

18. Animal Classification
some other mollusks are clams, mussels, and squid
other invertebrates have tough coatings on the outside of their bodies (exoskeletons), jointed legs, and a segmented body.
This group is known as the
arthropods.
Insects, spiders (arachnids), centipedes/millipedes, and shrimp, lobster, and crabs (crustaceans) are all arthropods.
There are more insects (over 900,000 species) than any other group of arthropods
There are more arthropods than any other group of invertebrates

19. Vertebrate All vertebrates have a backbone (enclosed spinal cord)
Their other physical characteristics are quite varied.
Vertebrates may be grouped according to their diet
Animals that primarily eat plants are known as herbivores.
Animals that feed mostly on meat are known as carnivores.
Some animals, eat both plants and meat as –
omnivores

20. Eating Habits An animal's eating habits are influenced by its anatomy.
Meat-eaters have jaws and teeth designed for tearing and crushing.
The canine teeth are enlarged and the molars have sharp cusps.
The intestinal tract is adapted for handling quick digestion of meat.
Plant-eaters usually have large incisors for cropping and cutting plants.
Their large, ridged molars are adapted for grinding tough plant fibers
Their intestines are rather long, allowing for slow digestion of plant fibers.

21. Teeth The hardest bone in the body is tooth enamel. Incisors are the
front teeth
They are used primarily for cutting and grasping.
Canines are the
Teeth next to the incisors.
The canine teeth typically are large in a predator and are used for tearing and grasping.
Premolars are the
Teeth behind the canines.
These teeth have sharp edges for crushing food.
Molars are the
Very back teeth.
They are broad and flat and are used for grinding.

22. Vertebrate What is another characteristic for grouping vertebrates?
All vertebrates are either cold-blooded or warm-blooded.
Give examples of cold-blooded vertebrates:
Fish, amphibians and reptiles
Their dependence on the water or land makes it necessary for them to adapt to the temperature surrounding them.

23. Vertebrate Warm-blooded animals are able to
control their body temperature.
No matter what the temperature is outside, their internal body temperature remains
the same.
What group of animals are warm blooded?
Only birds and mammals
How do warm blooded animals adapt to temperature changes?
Birds rely upon their feathers
Mammals rely upon skin, hair, or fur

24. Body Temperature
Another way to consider groups of vertebrates is according to their body temperature.
All vertebrates are either cold-blooded or warm-blooded.
A cold-blooded vertebrate has an internal body temperature that matches the external temperature around it.
Fish, amphibians and reptiles are examples of cold-blooded animals.
Their dependence on the water or land makes it necessary for them to adapt to the temperature surrounding them.

25. Body Temperature
Warm-blooded animals are able to control their body temperature.
No matter what the temperature is outside, their internal body temperature remains the same.
Only birds and mammals are warm-blooded.
Birds rely upon their feathers to help adapt to temperature changes.

26. Outer Covering
Mammals rely upon skin, hair, or fur to help adapt to temperature changes.
All mammals have the ability for the female to produce milk to feed her babies.
Some mammals, like whales, live in the water and must adapt to changing water temperatures.
Other land mammals, like wolves, have adapted to very cold climates.
In general, however, warm-blooded animals must prepare for temperature extremes in order to survive.

27. Internal Heat vs External Heat
Endotherms
are animals that primarily produces its own heat.
Ectotherms
are animals that primarily gains heat through the environment

28. Vertebrate
What are some ways that warm-blooded animals prepare for temperature extremes in order to survive?
Thicken fur coats, hibernate, migrate,
What is a MAJOR characteristic of all mammals?
The ability of the female to produce milk to feed her babies.

29. Classification of Mammals
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia

30. Class
Mammalia

31. Mammalia Currently - approx. 5,000 living species
Divided into two subclasses
Prototheria (monotrenes – like duck billed platypus)
Theria
Then Theria has 2 infraclasses:
Eutheria (placental mammals like us)
Metatheria (marsupial mammals like kangaroos and koalas)
Approx orders
(there is no consensus among biologists)

32. Oviparous, viviparous, and ovoviviparous?
is egg-laying (ex. Birds)
Viviparous
is live birth (ex. Humans)
Ovoviviparous
is kept inside of the mother in an egg until right before hatching (ex. Fish)

33. Mammals Unlike other animals, mammals have: Body hair
3 middle ear bones (the malleus, incus, and stapes),
Nourish their young with milk that females produce
Milk produced in modified sweat glands that are called mammary glands

34. Infraclass
Eutheria

35. Placental mammals
Advanced mammals - young born at a relatively advanced stage (more advanced than the young of other mammals - the monotremes (egg layers) and marsupials).
Have feet, ankles, jaws, and teeth
Young are nourished through a placenta prior to birth
Placenta - specialized embryonic organ attached to mother's uterus - delivers oxygen and nutrients to the young.
Approx 4,000 known species of placental mammals.
Mostly rodents and bats
Placental mammals are called eutherians
Placental mammals - extremely successful in out-competing monotremes and marsupials for ecological niches

36. Biophilia
instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems
love of nature and all living things

38. Herbivore Such as a ground squirrel or deer
Have long rows of flat grinding teeth called molars at the rear its jaw to crush and break down tough plant fibers
The very front of the jaw has sharp incisors to cut the plants to be ground
Between these cutting incisors and the grinding molars is empty space called the diastema
These are all the teeth you need if your diet is grass, twigs, berries, leaves, and mushrooms.

39. Carnivores Meat-eating animals,
Have canine teeth--fangs--to pierce tough skin and muscle.
Also have precision-cutting incisors in front, between their canines.
Behind the canine teeth, where herbivores have an empty space, are sharp-edged pre-molars, flesh-tearing and large- tissue cutting tools needed by big cats.
Actual molars might be very reduced or absent in strict carnivores like mountain lions
Will see them in mammals--such as coyotes, bears, raccoons, and opossums--that eat a mixture food types.

40. Omnivores Some animals, called omnivores, eat both plants and animals.
"omni" means "all"
Usually have a variety of all kinds of teeth. 
Humans, bears and raccoons are omnivores
They eat all kinds of food (both meat and plant material)
They need all kinds of teeth. 

41. Insectivores
Shrews
Fruit Bats and Insectivore Bats

42. Insectivores Insect-eating mammals (like shrews, moles and some bats)
Have long incisors for picking insects out of
dirt and leaves
Small, but sharply edged canines, premolars and molars for chewing hard-shelled beetles, other insects and worms.

43. Position of Eyes
Most carnivores and omnivores have eyes facing forward, like humans
Binocular vision, which allows for good
Depth perception and sharp detail needed for hunting and capturing fast-moving targets, as well as keeps predators from becoming distracted
Eye orbits between the sides and front of the skull may also indicate omnivores
Herbivores have eyes that face outward to the sides
Watch for predators with wide-angle, 180-degree peripheral vision.
Eye orbits placed high on the head may indicate that the animal spends much of its time in water.
An example of this is the beaver

44. Eye Diameter
How does the diameter of eyes indicate an animal’s habits and feeding patterns?
Large eye diameters (larger eyes) may indicate that the animal is nocturnal.
Smaller eye diameters (small eyes) may indicate an animal with limited reliance on sight (bat) or an animal that lives underground (mole).

45. Eyes in front, like to hunt. Eyes on the side, must run and hide.
Remember
Eyes in front, like to hunt.
Eyes on the side, must run and hide.

46. Nose Length
Nose length also can be used to infer an animal’s habits and feeding patterns.
A longer nose - the animal may have hunted through scents or use its nose to probe the ground or flowers.
Grazer’s (herbivores) with a long nose also allows its eyes to scan for predators while eating.
Browser’s long nose helps to keep its eyes from being poked by branches.
Examples of both types of herbivores:
Browsers: deer, elk, moose, caribou, mountain goat
Grazers: bison, pronghorn (antelope), mountain sheep

47. Should you be careful poking around dead animal bones?
Sure, especially with animals that are recently dead.
They might have died from disease or infection
So use caution--a stick is better than your hands--but don't be afraid to explore.
So, Get Out!
It's hard to say when you'll find bones along a trail.
The more time you spend outdoors, the better your chances!
Science museums are great places to get familiar with skeletons