Taxonomy Binomial Nomenclature Taxonomy is the science of
Taxonomy & Binomial Nomenclature Taxonomy is the science of naming and classifying organisms
History. . . n Aristotle- 2000+ years ago. n n n Groupings based on structural similarities Had poor definitions of standards Carolus Linnaeus- in 1750’s n Developed binomial nomenclature n “two name naming system. ” n Allowed for standardizing across languages n Used Latin names
Binomial Nomenclature n n Binomial Nomenclature= The two names are the genus and the species Uses a standardized format n n Genus- capitalized, species- all lowercase Either italicized or underlined An International Commission controls and okay's new names Felis domesticus or Canis familiaris
Why use Binomial Nomenclature? n Eliminated confusion over common names: n n Felis concolor is variably called puma, cougar, panther, mountain lion The robin in England is Erithracus rubicola, in the U. S. a robin is Turdus migratoris
Seven (Eight) Major Groupings n There are 7 major levels of organization: Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species Some sources are now adding an 8 th level of organization to the top of the list: the Domain Each of these groupings (except Kingdom) can be further sub-divided by adding prefixes such as Super-, Supra-, Infra-, or Sub- in front of the grouping name. For example: Subclass or Superorder
Seven (Eight) Major Groupings As with Aristotle, groupings are still based on similarities. n The types of similarities are much more standardized: n Structural n Biochemical n Chromosomal (DNA) similarities n
Definitions n Biological species n n A group of similar organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. This is a limited definition with several notable exceptions n wolf/dog, wheat/rye, some fish
Cladistics n A system of studying similarities between organisms to try to determine an evolutionary sequence. "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" n the development of the embryo retells the story of the organism’s evolution
Dichotomous Keys n n n Di= “two”, chotomy= “division/cut” A system of dividing a set of objects into similar groups by asking a series of questions that have only two choices. Develop a dichotomous key to identify everyone in a small group of students.
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