Evolution: Classification and Taxonomy

How is biodiversity defined?

Biodiversity describes the variety of life on Earth.

What is the biological definition of a species?

A group of living things that can reproduce and produce offspring, which can go on to reproduce themselves.

What is taxonomy?

The science of placing living things into ordered groups (also known as classification).

What early classification concept is depicted in this historical diagram developed by Aristotle in the 4th century BCE?

The scala naturae, in which Aristotle ranked matter hierarchically, placing some matter as 'higher order' (such as humans) and other matter as 'lower order' (such as rocks).

On what three criteria did Aristotle distinguish between plants and animals?

1. Their ability to move
2. Whether or not they had blood
3. Whether they lived in water or on land

What was Gaspard Bauhin's contribution to biological classification in the 1600s?

He classified thousands of plants and was the first to use a two-name system (binomial nomenclature) consisting of a genus and a species.

What two ranks make up the binomial name of an organism?

A genus (e.g. Homo) and a species (e.g. sapiens).

What book did Carl Linnaeus publish in 1735, and what three kingdoms did he propose?

He published Systema Naturae and proposed three kingdoms: Animalia (animals), Plantae (plants), and Minerae (minerals).

In Carl Linnaeus's original system, what was the hierarchy of groups within each kingdom?

Each kingdom was divided into classes, then orders, and finally genus and species.

How did Charles Darwin's findings in the 1800s influence our understanding of classification?

Darwin proposed that populations contain variation, which can confer environmental advantages to certain members and lead to new species forming from older ones over long periods of time.

How did Gregor Mendel's experiments contribute to classification?

By conducting experiments on pea plants, Mendel established modern genetics