Taxonomy and Systematics Flashcards

Flashcards covering key concepts in Taxonomy and Systematics, including nomenclature, phylogenies, and homology/analogy.

What are key differences between Glass Lizards and Snakes regarding eyelids?

Glass lizards have movable eyelids, snakes do not.

What are key differences between Glass Lizards and Snakes regarding ear openings?

Glass lizards have ear openings, snakes do not.

What are key differences between Glass Lizards and Snakes regarding jaw flexibility?

Glass lizards have inflexible jaws, snakes do not.

What are key differences between Glass Lizards and Snakes regarding tail length and regeneration?

Glass lizards have longer tails which they can regenerate, snakes do not regenerate tails.

What is Phylogeny?

The evolutionary history or relatedness of a species or group of species

What is Systematics?

The discipline that classifies organisms and determines their evolutionary relationships.

What is Taxonomy?

The discipline that groups and names organisms.

What is the purpose of binomial nomenclature?

To classify and name organisms based on similarities, using a two-part name.

What are the rules for binomial nomenclature?

Use Latin, Genus is first and capitalized, species epithet is second and lowercase, the whole name is italicized or underlined.

What is a Taxon?

A taxonomic unit at any level of hierarchy.

What is a phylogenetic tree?

A diagram showing the evolutionary history of a group of organisms; a hypothesis of species relationships.

What is an ancestral lineage?

An evolutionary lineage or taxon.

What is a basal taxon?

A taxon that diverges early in the evolution of a group.

What do phylogenetic trees show?

Evolutionary relationships, not phenotypic similarity.

What is not shown on phylogenetic trees?

When a species evolves or the amount of change in a lineage.

What is a homology?

Phenotypic and genetic similarities due to shared ancestry.

What is an analogy?

Similar traits that are the product of convergent evolution, not shared ancestry.

What is a clade?

A group of species that includes an ancestral species and all its descendants; a monophyletic group.

What is a shared ancestral trait?

A trait that originated in an ancestor of the taxon.

What is a shared derived trait?

An evolutionary novelty unique to a clade.

What is an outgroup?

A species or group from an evolutionary lineage known to have diverged before the lineage of the ingroup.

What is an ingroup?

The species or group of species whose evolutionary relationships are being examined in a given analysis.