Transcript Classifying the Diversity of Life

Classifying the
Diversity of Life
Targets:
17.
State the goals of
taxonomy.
18.
Describe how
evolutionary biology and
molecular biology
influence classification.
What is taxonomy?
• The identification, naming and classification of
species.
What is the biological species concept?
• A population or group of populations whose
members have the ability to breed with one
another in nature and produce fertile (has the
ability to have babies) offspring.
Who developed the classification
system?
• Carolus Linnaeus developed a classification
system in the 1700’s.
• This system has two main characteristics:
1. A two-part Latin name for each species
2. A hierarchy or ordering of species into
broader and broader groups.
How do we name species?
• Each species is assigned a binomial.
• The first part of the name is the genus to
which the species belongs.
• The second part of the name is the species
within the genus.
• Genus is broader than species.
• For example, Homo sapiens is our binomial
name. Our genus is Homo and our species is
sapiens. This means modern man.
What is the hierarchy of classification?
• Each species is grouped into broader and
broader categories.
• There are 7 major categories (going from
largest to smallest): Kingdom, Phyla, Class,
Order, Family, Genera, Species.
What is the hierarchy of classification?
Classification of the Domestic Cat
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is the domestic cat’s family?
What is the domestic cat’s class?
What is the domestic cat’s genus?
Which is broader Vertebrata or Carnivora?
How does evolutionary biology and
molecular biology influence
classification?
• Phylogenetic tree is a branching pattern that reflects
the hypotheses of evolutionary relationships.
• Molecular data such as comparing genes and their
gene products (proteins) are the strongest support for
these hypothesis.
With a partner, compare and contrast
the evolutionary relationships
depicted in both of these phylogenies.
Wrapping-Up
• How does evolutionary biology and molecular
biology influence classification?