How do you know when a species is more similar to a certain species compared to a different one?
When they share more of the taxa.
In the current classification system, how many taxa are there? What are the names of these taxa?
seven. The names of them are (from most general to most specific):
-Kingdom
-Phylum
-Class
-Order
-Family
-Genus
-species
Have some species come to be known by multiple scientific names?
Yes. In these cases, one name is chosen for the species and the other names are referred to as "synonyms" of the species name. Ex. bats in the genus Lasiurus were once also known by the genus name Nycteris.
When two organisms share the same genus what does that mean? What does it mean if they don't share the same genus?
If two organisms share the same genus it means they are related. If not, they are not closely related.
True or false: Scientific names are set in stone and they can never be changed.
False. Scientific names are sometimes changed when our scientific understanding of animal species and their relationship changes.
Why is the two name system beneficial?
It allows us to see similarities in organisms.
Ex. Felis is a genus of cats in the family Felidae. (any cats with the genus Felis shows that those cats are similar.
Which language are scientific names mostly created in?
Scientific names are created mostly using Latin terms.
Which part of the scientific name is the only part that can be written alone?
The genus name, not the species name. (the genus describes the general type of animal, making it more clear to use that word instead of the species as usually, the species name is just a word that means a color or something random like that.)
What do scientific names of organisms contain? How should they be written?
Scientific names include the genus and species name only of the organism. The genus name is written first and always begins with an uppercase letter and the species name is always written second with a lowercase letter. On a device, when a name is typed, it is always written in italics. However, when written by hand, each word is underlined (two separate lines for each word, not one big underline spanning the entire name) Ex.Felis bieti
What is binomial nomenclature? What are the binomial nomenclature names based off of?
It is a two-part scientific name that is assigned to an organism using Latin words. These two part names are often based on a characteristic such as color or habitat.
What was something that Carl Linnaeus did no else had done before?
He was the first to use binomial nomenclature in taxonomy.
In a species name, what is more general and what is more supportive?
The genus is more general and the species is supportive.
what is nomenclature?
a way to name things.
What is Carl Linnaeus's system based on?
Carl Linnaeus's system is based on an organisms physical and structural features (bones), believing that the more features organisms have in common, the closer their relationship.
Who created the current taxonomy classification system?
The present system was created by Carl Linnaeus.
How do taxonomists deal with the mass biodiversity on earth?
Taxonomists created artificial classification systems that have two main goals:
-identify organisms
-provide a basis for natural groupings of organisms.
What is taxonomy?
Taxonomy is the field of science that deals with classifying the estimated 10 million species here on earth.
What do scientists use to classify organisms?
They use a dichotomous key.
How is phylogeny shown?
It is shown as a diagram called a phylogenetic tree.
What is the history of the evolution of organisms called?
Phylogeny
What do microbiologists want to do to the kingdom system?
They want to change it from a 6 kingdom system to a 3 kingdom system. In their ideal world, these three kingdoms would be Eubacteria, Archaebacteria, and Eukaryota (which is the Animalia, Plantae, and the Protista all grouped into one kingdom)
Give examples of Animalia:
Sponges, worms, lobsters, starfish, and humans.
Describe kingdom 6 (Animalia):
They are all multicellular, they are all heterotrophs, most reproduce sexually, they live in terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and they have no cell wall.
Give examples of plantae:
Mosses, ferns, conifers, flowering plants.
Describe kingdom 5 (plantae):
They are ALL multicellular, they are all autotrophs, they reproduce both sexually and asexually, most are terrestrial, and they contain a cell wall.
Give examples of some fungi.
Mushrooms, yeasts, and bread molds.
Describe kingdom 4 (Fungi).
Most fungi are multicellular, they are all heterotrophs, they reproduce asexually and sexually, most are terrestrial, and they contain a cell wall.
Give examples of some Protista.
Absent algae and protozoa.
Describe kingdom 3 (Protista):
Most Protista are single celled organisms however some are multicellular organisms. Protista are eukaryotic and some are autotrophs and some are heterotrophs. Protista reproduce both sexually and asexually. Lastly, Protista live in aquatic or moist habitats.
Break down the word Eukaryote:
Eu= "true"
Karyo="nucleus"
Eukaryote: "true nucleus" (aka, I HAVE A NUCLEUS!)
Break down the word prokaryote:
Pro= "before"
Karyo="nucleus"
Prokaryote= "before nucleus"
Give examples of archaebacteria.
Methanogens (the organisms that cause you to fart), extreme thermophiles, extreme halophiles, and just lots of types of extremophiles in general.
Describe kingdom 2 (Archaebacteria):
They are prokaryotic, they are heterotrophs, they usually live in salt lakes, hot springs, or animal guts. Additionally, they contain cell walls. Also, they are generally the bacteria that existed in the harsh conditions on earth millions of years ago (archae=old) which is why they can live in such weird places where you'd think would be inhabitable (they are extremophiles)
give examples of eubacteria.
Bacteria, cyanobacteria.
Describe kingdom 1 (Eubacteria):
Eubacteria are simple organisms lacking nuclei (prokaryotic), they are either heterotrophs or autotrophs, they can all reproduce asexually, they live nearly everywhere, and they often have a cell wall.
What is the main difference between eukaryotes and prokaryotes?
Eukaryotes contain membrane bound organelles and prokaryotes don't. This means that prokaryotes do not have a nucleus and they instead keep their DNA in a cell region called the nucleoid.
There is species diversity which refers to the number of different species and there is genetic diversity which refers to the amount of variation in inherited traits between individuals of the same species.