©THESTAR 2024/2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1:27PM. A+
Biology 1500 Exam 4 (Nathan Mills) Exam
Questions And Answers |Latest 2025 |
Guaranteed Pass
What is systematics - Answer✔the scientific discipline focused on classifying organisms and
determining their evolutionary relationships
who was Carolus Linnaeus and what did he do - Answer✔early taxonomist whose classification
scheme laid the foundation for modern systematics
specifically, what did Linnaeus do - Answer✔-created the Linnaean classification system
-classified organisms on "important" characteristics
-believed he was revealing God's divine pattern
what did the Linnaean classification system use - Answer✔-binomial nomenclature for species'
names
-hierarchical classification scheme which includes taxonomic levels
what is binomial nomenclature - Answer✔naming system: genus and specific epithet
what are the taxonomic levels - Answer✔domain
kingdom
phylum
class
order
family
genus
species
1|Page
, ©THESTAR 2024/2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1:27PM. A+
how did Linnaeus classify organisms - Answer✔according to overall similarity
based on characteristics he believed were important (ignored trivial characteristics)
what was Linnaeus NOT looking for - Answer✔evolutionary relationships
Darwin's theory of __________ added a new significance to Linnaeus' _________________ -
Answer✔evolution
classification system
what did Darwin believe regarding species and genus - Answer✔species in the same genus were
similar because they stem from a recent common ancestor rather than because they were
created according to the same divine blueprint
what did Darwin propose - Answer✔-a hypothetical phylogenetic tree
-our classifications actually reflect evolutionary relationships
what is a phylogeny - Answer✔a history of descent of a group of taxa from their common
ancestors (includes order of branching & sometimes absolute ages of divergence)
what is a branch point - Answer✔a common ancestor from which different lineages diverged
what is a basal taxon - Answer✔a lineage that diverged from all others early in the history of
the taxon (generally shares the fewest derived characteristics with the rest of the clade)
what are sister taxa - Answer✔taxa that share an immediate common ancestor & thus are more
closely related to each other than to any other taxa
what is polytomy - Answer✔a branch point from with more than 2 lineages diverge
-indicates evolutionary relationships between the taxa has not yet been determined
what are phylogenies intended to do - Answer✔to show patterns of descent, NOT phenotypic
similarity
when reading a phylogeny, what is important and what is not important - Answer✔important:
the order of branching
not important: the order in which the taxa are listed along the right side
how do taxa evolve in relation to phylogenies - Answer✔-related taxa evolved from a common
ancestor
-taxa did not evolve from the taxa next to them on the phylogeny
most phylogenies show what timing - Answer✔relative timing
2|Page
Biology 1500 Exam 4 (Nathan Mills) Exam
Questions And Answers |Latest 2025 |
Guaranteed Pass
What is systematics - Answer✔the scientific discipline focused on classifying organisms and
determining their evolutionary relationships
who was Carolus Linnaeus and what did he do - Answer✔early taxonomist whose classification
scheme laid the foundation for modern systematics
specifically, what did Linnaeus do - Answer✔-created the Linnaean classification system
-classified organisms on "important" characteristics
-believed he was revealing God's divine pattern
what did the Linnaean classification system use - Answer✔-binomial nomenclature for species'
names
-hierarchical classification scheme which includes taxonomic levels
what is binomial nomenclature - Answer✔naming system: genus and specific epithet
what are the taxonomic levels - Answer✔domain
kingdom
phylum
class
order
family
genus
species
1|Page
, ©THESTAR 2024/2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1:27PM. A+
how did Linnaeus classify organisms - Answer✔according to overall similarity
based on characteristics he believed were important (ignored trivial characteristics)
what was Linnaeus NOT looking for - Answer✔evolutionary relationships
Darwin's theory of __________ added a new significance to Linnaeus' _________________ -
Answer✔evolution
classification system
what did Darwin believe regarding species and genus - Answer✔species in the same genus were
similar because they stem from a recent common ancestor rather than because they were
created according to the same divine blueprint
what did Darwin propose - Answer✔-a hypothetical phylogenetic tree
-our classifications actually reflect evolutionary relationships
what is a phylogeny - Answer✔a history of descent of a group of taxa from their common
ancestors (includes order of branching & sometimes absolute ages of divergence)
what is a branch point - Answer✔a common ancestor from which different lineages diverged
what is a basal taxon - Answer✔a lineage that diverged from all others early in the history of
the taxon (generally shares the fewest derived characteristics with the rest of the clade)
what are sister taxa - Answer✔taxa that share an immediate common ancestor & thus are more
closely related to each other than to any other taxa
what is polytomy - Answer✔a branch point from with more than 2 lineages diverge
-indicates evolutionary relationships between the taxa has not yet been determined
what are phylogenies intended to do - Answer✔to show patterns of descent, NOT phenotypic
similarity
when reading a phylogeny, what is important and what is not important - Answer✔important:
the order of branching
not important: the order in which the taxa are listed along the right side
how do taxa evolve in relation to phylogenies - Answer✔-related taxa evolved from a common
ancestor
-taxa did not evolve from the taxa next to them on the phylogeny
most phylogenies show what timing - Answer✔relative timing
2|Page
