Module: All organisms are related through their evolutionary history
Q: What is taxonomy?
The identification and naming of organisms.
Q: State the hierarchy of biological classification:
1. Domain
2. Kingdom
3. Phylum
4. Class
5. Order
6. Family
7. Genus
8. Species
Q: What is a phylogenetic tree?
A diagram showing evolutionary descent, with living organisms at the tips of the
branches, ancestral species in the branches and trunk and branches, ancestral
species in the branches and trunk and branch points, representing common
ancestors.
Q: What does taxa are discrete mean?
at any level of classification an organism belongs in one taxon and in no other.
Q: Why do we need a classification system?
A phylogenetic classification system allows us to infer evolutionary relationships.
If a new animal is discovered with certain characteristics, we can predict some other
characteristics.
When we communicate, it is quicker to say ‘bird’ then to say the ‘vertebrate egg-
laying biped with a beak and feathers’
When describing the health of an ecosystem or the rate of extinction in the
geological record, conservationists often find it more useful to count families than
species.
Q: Describe the three-domain system?
A domain is the largest taxon and all living organisms belong in one of the three
domains.
Domains were originally defined on the basis of rRNA base sequences. More modern
methods of analysis also consider similarities in the DNA base sequence.
1. Eubacteria = prokaryotic bacteria such as E.coli
2. Archaea = these are bacteria and often have unusual metabolism.
3. Eukaryota = Plantae, Animalia, Fungi and Protoctista.
Q: Define biodiversity?
Q: What is taxonomy?
The identification and naming of organisms.
Q: State the hierarchy of biological classification:
1. Domain
2. Kingdom
3. Phylum
4. Class
5. Order
6. Family
7. Genus
8. Species
Q: What is a phylogenetic tree?
A diagram showing evolutionary descent, with living organisms at the tips of the
branches, ancestral species in the branches and trunk and branches, ancestral
species in the branches and trunk and branch points, representing common
ancestors.
Q: What does taxa are discrete mean?
at any level of classification an organism belongs in one taxon and in no other.
Q: Why do we need a classification system?
A phylogenetic classification system allows us to infer evolutionary relationships.
If a new animal is discovered with certain characteristics, we can predict some other
characteristics.
When we communicate, it is quicker to say ‘bird’ then to say the ‘vertebrate egg-
laying biped with a beak and feathers’
When describing the health of an ecosystem or the rate of extinction in the
geological record, conservationists often find it more useful to count families than
species.
Q: Describe the three-domain system?
A domain is the largest taxon and all living organisms belong in one of the three
domains.
Domains were originally defined on the basis of rRNA base sequences. More modern
methods of analysis also consider similarities in the DNA base sequence.
1. Eubacteria = prokaryotic bacteria such as E.coli
2. Archaea = these are bacteria and often have unusual metabolism.
3. Eukaryota = Plantae, Animalia, Fungi and Protoctista.
Q: Define biodiversity?
