Taxonomy and Cladistics

taxonomy

the scientific study of how living things are classified

clade

a group of species that includes an ancestral species and all its descendants

node

branch point in a cladogram that represents a speciation event by which distinct species are formed

binomial nomenclature

A system for giving each organism a two-word scientific name that consists of the genus name followed by the species name

domain

most inclusive taxonomic category; larger than a kingdom

kingdom

larger taxonomic group than a phyla, but smaller than a domain

species

the smallest taxonomic group; a group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.

genus

a group of similar species

heterotroph

an organism that cannot make its own food.

autotroph

an organism that makes its own food

Fungi

a kingdom composed of heterotrophs; many obtain energy and nutrients from dead organic matter

Protista

a kingdom of mostly one-celled eukaryotic organisms that are different from plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi

Plantae

a kingdom made up of complex, multicellular organisms that use the sun's energy to make sugar by photosynthesis

Archaebacteria

kingdom of unicellular prokaryotes whose live in harsh, extreme environments

Eubacteria

kingdom that contains all prokaryotes except archaebacteria

Animalia

kingdom of multicellular eukaryotic heterotrophs whose cells do not have cell walls

unicellular

made of a single cell

multicellular

made of many cells

derived character

trait that appears in recent parts of a lineage, but not in its older members

cladogram

a branching diagram showing the evolutionary relationships between a number of species