1. Organizing the Diversity of Life
Classification
Organizing the Diversity of Life

2. Classification
The grouping of objects or information based on similarities

3. Taxonomy
Branch of biology dealing with the identification, classification, and nomenclature of organisms.

4. How to Organize? Plants Animals Trees Land Shrubs Air Herbs Water
Problem: Birds, bats, and insects were grouped together
Aristotle ( B.C.E.)

5. Classification based on physical and structural similarities
Carolus Linnaeus ( )
Created binomial nomenclature (2 word naming system)
1st word = Genus (genera if plural) = a group of similar species
2nd word = specific epithet = Species
Scientific name = Genus + specific epithet e.g. Homo sapiens

6. Writing Species Names Rules for writing species names
Latin is the language of scientific names (Latin is no longer spoken, so it does not change)
Italicize in print and underline when hand written
1st letter of the genus is CAPITALIZED & 1st letter of specific epithet is lowercase

7. Writing Species Names
Canis latrans = Coyote
Canis lupus = Grey wolf

8. Cougar?
Puma?
Panther?
Catamount?
Mountain lion? Or…

9. Cougar?
Puma?
Panther?
Catamount?
Mountain lion? Or… Felis concolor?

10. Taxonomic Rankings Kingdom Kinky Phylum Phil Class Came Order Over
Family For
Genus Good
Species Sex

12. All Living Organisms are grouped into... 3 DOMAINS
EUBACTERIA  -   true bacteria
ARCHAEA -   ancient prokaryotes       
EUCARYA  -  modern eukaryotes

14. Species – organisms that look alike and successfully interbreed
Genus – A group of similar species which that have similar features and are closely related
Family – A group of similar genera
Order – A group of similar families
Class – A group of similar orders
Phylum – A group of similar classes
Kingdom – A group of similar phyla

16. Six Kingdoms Eubacteria · Prokaryotic · True bacteria · RNA is simple
·        Have true cell walls
·        Unicellular
Archaebacteria
·        RNA more complex

17. Six Kingdoms Protista · Eukoryotic · Autotrophs and heterotrophs
·        Lacks organs systems
·        Lives in moist environments
·        Unicellular or multicellular
Fungi
·        Eukaryotic
·        Heterotrophs
·        Absorbs nutrients from organic material in its environment

18. Six Kingdoms Plantae · Eukaryotic · Autotrophs · Multicellular
·        Photosynthetic
Animalia
·        Heterotrophs

19. Evolutionary Classification
To study history one must know in advance that one is attempting something fundamentally impossible, yet necessary and highly important. To study history means submitting to chaos and nevertheless retaining faith in order and meaning.
-Father Jacobus

21. Evolutionary Classification
Phylogeny - evolutionary history of a group of organisms
Cladistics – The study of evolutionary relationships between groups to construct their family tree
Derived characters – Characteristics which appear in recent parts of a lineage but NOT in its older members (Evolutionary innovation)

22. Evolutionary Classification
Most recent common ancestor --The ancestral organism from which a group of descendants arose.

27. Character -- Heritable trait possessed by an organism
Clade -- a group of organisms which includes the most recent common ancestor and all of the descendants of that most recent common ancestor.
Cladogram -- A diagram, resulting from a cladistic analysis, which depicts a hypothetical branching sequence of lineages leading to the taxa under consideration.
Nodes --The points of branching within a cladogram.

28. ingroup -- In a cladistic analysis, the set of taxa which are hypothesized to be more closely related to each other than any are to the outgroup.
Parsimony -- the simplest evolutionary hypothesis; it explains the data in the most economical way