Classification of Living Organisms Flashcards
All 6 cards in this deck
What is the order of the Linnaean classification groups, from the largest group to the smallest?
Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.
What are the steps to give the binomial name of an organism from its classification?
e.g. genus Geospiza, species fortis- Write the genus name first, with a capital letter: Geospiza
- Write the species name second, with a lower case letter: fortis
- Binomial name: Geospiza fortis
True or false? Two organisms that look very similar must belong to the same species.
False. Organisms belong to the same species only if they can breed together to produce fertile offspring.
Why were new models of classification proposed after Linnaeus' system?
Improvements in microscopes gave evidence of internal structures, and understanding of biochemical processes progressed.
What are the three domains in Carl Woese's three-domain system, and what is in each?
Archaea (primitive bacteria, usually living in extreme environments), bacteria (true bacteria) and eukaryota (protists, fungi, plants and animals).
What data do scientists use to construct evolutionary trees, and what does a branch point on the tree show?
Current classification data for living organisms and fossil data for extinct organisms; a branch point is a common ancestor, and the more recent it is the more closely related the organisms.