Living or Non?

1. Cells

2. Use Energy

3. Reproduce

4. Movement

5. Grow and Develop

6. Breath and Respire

7. Homeostasis (balance)

Organisms1. Cells: basic unit of life

2. Use Energy: 1. Animals eat other organisms

2. Plants use sunlight

3. Some organisms use chemicals

3. Reproduction

4. Movement

5. Grow and Develop

6. Respiration (breathing)

7. Homeostasis (balance)

Taxonomy

The science of naming organisms.

Aristotle• Plant or animal?

• If an animal, does it– Fly– Swim– Crawl

• Simple classifications

• Used common names

Devil CatGhost Cat

Mountain Lion

Screaming Cat

Puma Florida Panther

Cougar

Why Assign Scientific Names?

– What are the goals of binomial nomenclature and systematics?

– Why use scientific names?

• “From so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”

Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species

Why Assign Scientific Names?

– To truly understand and study diversity we must first describe and name each species.

– The next step to understanding is organizing living things into groups that have biological meaning

Why use Scientific Names?

– By using a scientific name, biologists can be sure that they are discussing the same organism.

– Common names vary from place to place.

For example, the names cougar, puma, panther, and mountain lion can all be used to indicate the same animal— Felis Concolor.

How do we assign a Scientific Name?

– In binomial nomenclature, each species is assigned a two-part scientific name.–Much easier than a 10+ word name under the old “polynomial system”–Same name no matter where you go–Less confusion–Bionomial = SCIENTIFIC NAME

Carolus Linnaeus (1730s)• Described organisms with two word

names, instead of polynomials

• Developed binomial nomenclature

• First word = genus name

• Second word = species name

How do we assign a Scientific Name?

Binomial Nomenclature• The scientific name usually is Latin. It is written

in italics. The first word begins with a capital letter, and the second word is lowercased.

• Two name system; Genus species– Felis concolor What is the genus name? – Felis catus– Homo sapien What is the species name?– Canis lupus– Homo neanderthalansis

– Ursus maritimus. – The first part of the name—Ursus—is the

genus to which the organism belongs. A genus is a group of similar species. The genus Ursus contains five other species of bears.

– The second part of a scientific name—maritimus for polar bears—is unique to each species and is often a description of the organism’s habitat or of an important trait. The Latin word maritimus refers to the sea: polar bears often live on pack ice that floats in the sea.

http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/media/images/save-our-sea-ice-0Dick & Val Beck/Polar Bears International

– The genus Acer consists of all maple trees.

– The species rubrum describes the red maple’s color.

Acer Rubrum

Linnaean Classification System

– How did Linnaeus group species into larger taxa?

Linnaean Classification System

– In deciding how to place organisms into larger groups, Linnaeus grouped species according to anatomical similarities and differences.

– Linnaeus also developed a classification system that organized species into a hierarchy, or ranking.

All organisms classified in a hierarchy

• Species (most specific)

• Genus

• Family

• Order

• Class

• Phylum

• Kingdom (broadest)

Genus species

– The scientific name of a camel with two humps is Camelus bactrianus.

– The South American llama shares resemblance with camels.

– Genera that share many similarities are grouped into a larger category, the FAMILY—in this case, Camelidae.

– Closely related families are grouped into the next larger rank—an ORDER.

– Order Artiodactyla: hoofed animals w/even # of toes

– The family Camelidae is grouped with several other animal families, including deer (family Cervidae) and cattle (family Bovidae)

– Closely related orders are grouped into the next larger rank, a CLASS.

– The order Artiodactyla is placed in the class Mammalia, which includes all animals that are warm-blooded, have body hair, and produce milk for their young.

– Classes are grouped into a PHYLUM, which includes organisms that are different but that share important characteristics.

– The class Mammalia is grouped with class Aves, class Reptilia, class Amphibia, and all classes of fish into the phylum Chordata. These organisms share important body-plan features, among them a nerve cord along the back.

Kingdom

– The largest and most inclusive of Linnaeus’s taxonomic categories is the kingdom.

– All multicellular animals are placed in the kingdom Animalia.

Problems With Traditional Classification

– Ranks above the level of species are

determined by researchers

– Different researchers might disagree about which traits we should use to define and describe genera, families, orders, classes, phyla, and kingdoms.

• In the wild, many animals will not mate.

• However, some animals can mate when forced: ligers and tigons

Problems with traditional classification

• Pizzly Bear, Grolar Bear, Prizzly Bear

Problems with traditional classification

Problems with traditional classification

Problems With Traditional Classification

– Which similarities and differences are the most important?

– Who decides?

– Modern classification schemes look beyond overall similarities and groups organisms based on evolutionary relationships.