Diversity of Life

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Diversity of Life

• Introduction to Taxonomy

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Taxonomy

• Science of classifying living things
• Aristotle devised 1st classification
  system over 2,000 years ago

Animals Plants
Air dwellers herbs
Land dwellers shrubs
Water dwellers trees
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Current System of Taxonomy

• Developed by Carolus Linnaeus (18th
  century Swedish biologist)
• Grouped organisms according to structural
  similarities those that looked most closely
  alike, were most closely related
• Gave organisms Latin names --- WHY?

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Reasons for Latin

• It is a dead language, no longer used so it
  wont change over time
• It is understood by scientists from all over the
  world (universal language of science)
• Many Latin words are suitable for describing the
  traits of organisms

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Binomial Nomenclature

• two word naming
• Name consists of genus and species
• Proper format includes
• 1st name Genus 2nd name species
• Genus name always begins with a capital letter
• species name always begins with a small letter
• Underline or italicize both names

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Binomial Nomenclature and Latin

• Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
• Acer maple saccharum sweet or
  sugar
• Acer rubrum (red maple)
• Acer maple rubrum red

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Examples of Scientific Names-(Binomial
Nomenclature)
Cats
Felis tigris (tiger)
Felis leo (lion)
Felis domestica (housecat)
Dogs
Canis lupus (wolf)
Canis latrans (coyote)
Canis domestica (domestic dog)
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NO Common Names are Used

• Misleading
• Tells us nothing about the relationships between
  organisms
• Can be different from place to place for the same
  organism

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Common Name Problems

• Starfish, Crayfish, Jellyfish -
• NOT FISH
• Sea Robin is a fish, NOT A BIRD
• Spanish moss is NOT MOSS, it is a flowering
  plant

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Groupings in a Classification System

• Biologists group organisms as follows (large
  groups down to individuals)
• Kingdom -
• Phyla -
• Class -
• Order -
• Family -
• Genus -
• Species -

Relationships of different Levels of
classification can be compared to geographic
destinations
Continent Country State County City Street
House
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Mnemonic Devices

• King Phillip Cried Out For Goodness Sake
• King Phillip Came Over From Germany Saturday
• Kyle Puked Chunks Of Fuzzy Green Stuff
• Make up your own!!!!

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Remember,

• The smaller the group, the more alike are its
  members

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Examples of Classifying Humans

• Kingdom Animalia
• Phyla Chordata/Vertebrata
• Class Mammalia (mammary glands)
• Order Primates (stand, walk erect)
• Family Hominidae (early human)
• Genus Homo (true humans, larger brains)
• Species sapiens (wise, sophisticated, large
  brain) only surviving human species
• Varieties ex. different races of humans
• different breeds of dogs

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The End