Vertebrate Taxonomy

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Vertebrate Taxonomy
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Keeping track of species

• Taxonomy describing and naming an organism
• gt1 million species named, up to 15 million more
• Taxonomy is not new cultures have been naming
  plants and animals around them for 1000s of years
• Its practical to have names

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Binomial Nomenclature

• Standard system for naming things
• Linnaeus described and named gt 6,000 animals and
  gt4,000 plants using Latin
• Scientific name does not replace, but instead
  further defines common name

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• Watch out--there is a large, furry, four-legged
  omnivore with long claws, a big mouth set in a
  short, stout muzzle, attached to a round head
  containing small eyes and short triangular ears
  behind that rock!
• OR
• Watch outtheres a bear behind that rock!

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• Q. What is the largest wild felid (cat) in the
  United States?
• Mountain Lion
• Cougar
• Panther
• Painter
• Puma
• Catamount

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• Puma concolor

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Early naming of species

• 1st word was a noun Genus
• 2nd word was an adjective Specific epithet
• Genus specific epithet scientific name of a
  species

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• Procyon lotor
• Pro early
• Cyon dog
• Lotor swimming
• Tamias minimus
• Tamias animal who caches food
• Minimus smallest

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• Peromyscus leucopus
• Pera small
• Mys mouse
• Leuco white
• Pus foot
• Canis latrans
• Canis dog
• Latrans barking

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• May tell you where it was first discovered
• Didelphis virginiana 2 wombs from Virginia
• Sylvilagus floridanus wood-hare of Florida
• Or who discovered it
• Lepus townsendii hare discovered by Townsend

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Taxonomic goals

• Place organisms into logical categories
• system must be capable of being used for
  information retrieval, so anyone can properly
  identify any organism
• Place organisms into categories that show
  ancestor-descendant relationships

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Taxonomic hierarchy

• Kingdom (Animalia)
• Phylum (Chordata)
• Class (Mammalia)
• Order (Rodentia)
• Family (Castoridae)
• Genus (Castor)
• Specific epithet (species)
  (canadensis)
• Scientific name Castor canadensis

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Phylum Chordata

• Several classes of fish
• Jawless fishes
• Sharks and rays
• Bony fish
• Class Amphibia (frogs, toads, salamanders)
• Class Testudines (turtles, tortoises)
• Class Lepidosauromorpha (snakes, lizards)
• Class Crocodilia (alligators, crocodiles)
• Class Aves (birds)
• Class Mammalia (mammals)

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Class Amphibia

• Two stage life cycle
• Aquatic larvae
• Terrestrial adult
• Respiratory structures
• Gills (larvae)
• Lungs (adult)
• Skin
• Mucous and poison skin glands
• Three-chambered heart
• Ectothermic
• Egg-layers
• Must lay eggs in or near water

• Major groups
• Gymnophiona
• Caecilians
• Caudata
• Salamanders
• Anura
• Frogs and toads

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Reptiles

• Shelled amniotic egg
• Skin hard and brittle
• Many have bony plates under scales
• Three-chambered heart
• Ectothermic

• Major groups
• Turtles
• Crocodilians
• Tuatara
• Lizards
• Snakes

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Herp Traps

• Pitfall traps
• Useful for catching terrestrial arthropods and
  small mammals
• Usually include drift fence to increase capture
  rate

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Herpetology Module

• Dr. Sunny Boyd
• Lectures on ecology and phylogeny of herps
• Field exercises
• Collection of herps from UNDERC lakes and vernal
  ponds
• Study of mating calls of frogs
• Study of tadpole abundance and diversity

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Class Aves

• Many orders of birds
• Columbiformes doves and pigeons
• Falconiformes diurnal birds of prey
• Apodiformes hummingbirds
• Gruiformes cranes and rails
• Piciformes woodpeckers
• Strigiformes owls
• Anseriformes ducks and geese
• Galliformes chickens and turkeys
• Passeriformes perching birds

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Class Mammalia

• Many orders of mammals
• Rodentia rodents
• Chiroptera bats
• Soricomorpha shrews and moles
• Carnivora cats, dogs, bears, weasels, raccoons
• Lagomorpha rabbits
• Artiodactyla ungulates
• Primates
• Didelphimorphia American marsupials

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Mist Nets
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Mammal Traps
Tomahawk traps
Sherman traps
Leg-hold traps
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Noninvasive Techniques
Scent Stations
Bat Detectors
Trailmaster Cameras
Observation
Tracking Stations
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Ornithology/Mammalogy Module

• Lectures on ecology and conservation of birds and
  mammals
• Field exercises
• Exciting morning exercies (birding, mammal
  trapping)
• Fun night exercises (howl surveys, owling)
• Radio telemetry

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