1. Classification of Organisms

2. The study of the kinds and diversity of organisms and their evolutionary relationships is called systematics or taxonomy ▫Taxonomy is the work involved in the original description of a species. ▫Systematics is the assigning of species into evolutionary groups.

3. Father of Modern Classification The modern classification system originated with the work of Carolus Linnaeus ▫he recognized the different species could be grouped into broader categories based on shared characteristics ▫any grouping of animals that shares a particular set of characteristics forms an assemblage called a taxon

4. 08 June 2009Classification.ppt 4 CLASSIFICATION OBSERVATION: Many kinds of organisms: Some similar to each other. ▫wood frog, ▫leopard frog, ▫bull frog

5. 08 June 2009Classification.ppt 5 CLASSIFICATION Others less similar ▫fish, ▫frogs, ▫snakes

6. 08 June 2009Classification.ppt 6 CLASSIFICATION Others very dissimilar ▫people, ▫pine trees, ▫protozoans

7. 08 June 2009Classification.ppt 7 CLASSIFICATION Why are some kinds similar and others NOT similar?  Question to be answered later? How can we make sense of (explain) this diversity? How can we organize what we know about these organisms?

8. 08 June 2009Classification.ppt 8 Answer: CLASSIFY Similar “types” (species) grouped together, separated from other species. Then, group similar groups together, etc.

9. 08 June 2009Classification.ppt 9 CLASSIFICATION Species = kind of organism ▫fundamental unit in evolution and ecology ▫more precise definition soon

10. 08 June 2009Classification.ppt 10 CLASSIFICATION Necessary? YES !! ~ 1 million species of plants, 5-10 million species of animals + fungi, protists, bacteria no good estimates of numbers of species Human mind needs to organize information.

11. 08 June 2009Classification.ppt 11 CLASSIFICATION Classification system organizes biological knowledge. Classification itself is HYPOTHESIS about relationships, similarity because of common ancestry.

12. 08 June 2009Classification.ppt 12 HYPOTHESIS of relationship

13. Modern taxonomists use 7 taxa: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species ▫as taxa increase organisms get more specific

14. 08 June 2009Classification.ppt 14 CLASSIFICATION = Sequence of levels. Linnaean system, from Carolus Linnaeus, 1740's Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species King Phil called old fat George stupid.

15. Kingdoms and Domains BacteriaArchaeaEukarya BacteriaArchaeaProtistaPlantaeFungiAnimalia MoneraProtistaPlantaeFungiAnimalia The three-domain system The six-kingdom system The traditional five-kingdom system

16. 08 June 2009Classification.ppt 16 CLASSIFICATION Woese, 1985 Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species Did King Phil call old fat George stupid ?

17. Kingdoms of Life In 1969, Robert H. Whitaker classified kingdoms based on cellular organization and mode of nutrition ▫this lead to the formation of the 5 kingdoms

18. 5 Kingdoms of Classification: Monera: comprised of bacteria and cyanobacteria distinguished by being single cell prokaryotes Protista: comprised of Amoeba, Paramecium etc…. distinguished by being single celled eukaryotes Plantae: multi-cellular photosynthetic eukaryotes plants have cell walls and are non-motile

19. 5 Kingdoms of Classification: Fungi: multi-cellular heterotrophic eukaryotes fungi have cell walls and usually non-motile digest organic matter extra-cellularly (outside of cell) and absorb the breakdown products Animalia: multi-cellular heterotrophic eukaryotes animal cells lack a cell wall and usually motile feed by ingesting other organisms or parts of other organisms

20. Moneraprokaryotesingle-cell Protistaeukaryotemulti-cell Plantaeeukaryotemulti-cellautotrophic Fungieukaryotemulti-cellheterotrophic, external digestion Animaliaeukaryotemulti-cellheterotrophic, internal digestion

21. DOMAINS??? Many taxonomists have pushed the idea that the five kingdom system isn’t enough ▫they feel that organisms share too much similarities and need to be grouped otherwise the push has led to the addition of 3 domains

22. 3 Domains 1.Archae: bacteria that live in extreme conditions 2.Eubacteria: “true bacteria” 3.Eukarya: all eukaryotic organisms

24. Taxonomic Diagrams MammalsTurtles Lizards and Snakes CrocodilesBirdsMammalsTurtles CrocodilesBirds Cladogram Phylogenetic Tree BioEd Online

25. Binomial Nomenclature: when a species is talked about only the genus and species names are used ▫this is called the scientific name ▫unique to each type of organism Required by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature

26. Writing Scientific Names the genus names is always capitalized both names are either italicized or underlined ▫leave a space in the underline between names ex. Homo sapien Felis leo Quercus rubra

27. Ursus americanus American Black Bear

28. Often Latin names contain clues about the type of organism being described. Canis domesticus :And closely related organisms are often in the same genus, also giving clues about their names Canis lupus: Some names are given after the discoverer, or the discovery location, or even a Latinized descriptive term in English

29. Conclusion The classification system for organisms have been around for a long time. It has endured several changes and is quite complex. Without it modern biology could not exist, much in the same way that a grocery store would go out of business if it did not have a classification system.