18.

1 History of Taxonomy

Taxonomy: the science of grouping organisms according to their presumed natural relationships

 Aristotle
• Classified organisms over 2000 years ago
• Greek philosopher
• Classified living things as either plants or animals
o Animals: divided into land, water, and air dwellers
o Plants: divided into three subcategories based on stem difference

 New systems were developed in the 18th century

 Common Name: an everyday name given to an organism (based on characteristics, habits, etc)
 Latin is used to avoid confusion between common names

Binomial Nomenclature
 Based on the work of Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish naturalist
 Linnaeus developed a system of grouping organisms into hierarchical categories
Taxons: Kingdom
Phylum/Division
(Subphylum)
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
(Subspecies)
 Binomial Nomenclature: a system of naming organisms that uses the genus name plus a
specific epithet (meaning: “two names”)
 Scientific Name: the two-word (binomial) Latin name of a species, always italicicized

Levels of Classification
 Botanists use the term division in place of phylum when classifying plants
 Species can be classified into:
o Subspecies
Are morphologically different and are often geographically separated
ssp. Means “subspecies”
ex. Canis lupis ssp. occidentalis
o Varieties
Are morphologically different and often are not geographically separated
var. means “variety”
ex. Prunis persica var. nectarina
o Strains
Biochemically dissimilar group within a species
Usually used in reference to microorganisms
 Often represented by letters or numbers
ex. S. marcescens D1 and S. marcescens 993
18.2 Modern Taxonomy

Phylogeny: classification based on evolutionary history; the analysis of evolutionary ancestry

between different organisms

Evidence Used in Classification

Dichotomous Key: a written set of choices that leads to the name of an organism; a
classification system used to differentiate specific traits of different organisms

Physiology
• study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms.
Physiology has traditionally been divided between plant physiology and animal
physiology but the principles of physiology are universal, no matter what particular
organism is being studied.

Morphology
• The outward appearance of an organism (colour, shape, structure, pattern, …)
• Usually used at the level of the larger classification categories

Embryology
• The study of the development of an embryo.
Embryo: any organism in a stage before birth or hatching, or in plants, before germination
occurs.
Analogous structures don’t provide any evidence of an evolutionary relationship
between organisms.
ex. the wings of a bird and the wings on an insect are analogous structures since they develop
from different tissues in each embryo
Certain embryological evidence may indicate that seemingly dissimilar species may be
related.
ex. The bones of the forelimb in the lizard are embryologically similar to those in the cat.
Homologous structures (see above example) suggest that two organisms may share a
similar phylogenetic origin

Chromosomes
• Number of chromosomes
• Shape of chromosomes

Biochemical
• Comparing the proteins, amino acid sequences, DNA, and RNA in different organisms

Inferring Phylogeny
Infer: to derive by reasoning; conclude or judge from premises or evidence

Taxonomists are able to infer the probable evolutionary relationships among species that have
been classified on the basis of the kinds of evidence listed in the previous section.
Phylogenetic Tree: a visual model of the inferred evolutionary relationships among organisms
Biosystematics
• A form of taxonomy that examines reproductive compatibility and gene flow
• Assesses the genetic variation in populations and among species
• using this information allows inferences about the ancestral history of a species
• Biosystematics
o study speciation, the evolution of one species into two
o collect data on variations in a population of organisms
o then analyze the data to construct a model of the population’s genetics