Taxonomy and General Zoology: Invertebrates and Chordates

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering principles of taxonomic classification, binomial nomenclature, kingdoms of life, protozoan groups, and invertebrate/vertebrate phyla based on General Zoology lecture notes.

Taxonomy

The science that deals with identifying, naming, describing, and classifying organisms according to their recognized similarities and differences.

• The major taxonomic ranks are:

  • Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species.

Genus

The first word of a binomial scientific name; it is a noun, is always written first, and must be always capitalized and italicized.

• Example:

  Human is Homo sapien

• “Homo” is the first word (it is capitalized and italicized)

Specific epithet

The second word in a binomial scientific name; it acts as an adjective referring to a particular species and is never capitalized.

• It is written in italics.

• Example:

  Human is Homo sapien

• “sapien” is the second word (it’s not capitalized but still italicized) it refers to a species

Carolus Linnaeus

A Swedish botanist (1707–1778) who wrote Systema Naturae (his great work), emphasizing morphological characters as the basis for classification and arranging organisms into a hierarchical system.

Systema Naturae

The great work by Carolus Linnaeus in which morphological characters were emphasized as the basis for biological classification.

Hierarchical System

It’s where organisms are arranged into an ascending series of groups of ever increasing inclusiveness.

 

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species (KPC OF GS)

The MAJOR CATEGORIES OR TAXA are these:

Canis familiaris

This is a Dog Taxonomy, this is its scientific name.

• Kingdom: Animalia

• Phylum: Chordata

• Class: Mammalia

• Order: Carnivora

• Family: Canidae

• Genus: Canis

• Species: familiaris

Gallus domesticus

This is a Chicken’s scientific name.

• Kingdom = Animalia

• Phylum = Chordata

• Class = Aves

• Order = Galliformes

• Family = Phasianidae

• Genus = Gallus

• Species = domesticus

Chordata

This phylum is where animals possess a notochord, dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, and post-anal tail at some stage.

• Its subphylum is Vertebrata (Vertebrates)

Species

A group of interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups.

Anatomy

The most important and useful criterion for classification. Similarities in external as well as internal body structure, such as skeleton and tooth structure are considered.

Developmental stages

It is where animals provide clues to common ancestry.

Biochemical techniques

This aid modern taxonomist in animal classification.

(Electrophoresis – is used to separate and identity molecules, such as proteins, amino acids and nucleic acids.

Electrophoresis

A biochemical technique used by modern taxonomists to separate and identify molecules such as proteins, amino acids, and nucleic acids.

Taxonomist (1970)

This classified all forms of life into two kingdoms:

a. Animalia (invertebrates and vertebrates)

b. Plantae (bacteria, fungi and photosynthetic protists)

Robert Whittaker

The biologist who proposed the five-kingdom classification scheme: Plantae, Fungi, Animalia, Protista, and Monera.

Kingdom Plantae

A kingdom that includes multicellular photosynthesizing organisms, higher plants and multicellular algae.

• Examples: Trees, flowering plants, mosses, and ferns.

Kingdom Fungi

A kingdom that contains the molds, yeasts and fungi that obtain their food by absorption (except protozoa)

• Example: mushrooms

Kingdom Animalia

A kingdom that includes vertebrate and invertebrates and most of these forms ingest their food and digest it internally.

Kingdom Protista

A kingdom that contains the unicellular eukaryotic organism.

• Example: amoeba, paramecium, plasmodium

Kingdom Monera

A kingdom comprised of prokaryotes, mainly bacteria, which are the most abundant microorganisms and can live in extreme habitats or as parasites.

• They live in extreme habitats such as hot springs, deserts, snow and deep oceans.

• Many of them live in or on other organisms as parasites.

Bacteria

This are grouped under four categories based on their shape—spherical Coccus; rod-shaped Bacillus; comma shaped Vibrium; and spiral Spirillum

• Some of these are autotrophic, (i.e., they synthesise their own food from inorganic substrates).

• They may be photosynthetic autotrophic or chemosynthetic autotrophic.

• The vast majority of these are heterotrophs, (i.e., they do not synthesise their own food but depend on other organisms or on dead organic matter for food)

Coccus

A category of bacteria characterized by a spherical shape.

Bacillus

A category of bacteria characterized by a rod-like shape.

Vibrium

A category of bacteria characterized by a comma shape.

Spirillum

A category of bacteria characterized by a spiral shape.

Autotrophic

Where bacteria synthesize their own food from inorganic substrates.

• Photosynthetic autotrophic

• Chemosynthetic autotrophic

Heterotrophic

The vast majority of bacteria; they do not synthesize their own food and instead depend on other organisms or dead organic matter for food.

Lumbricus terrestris

This is the scientific name of Earthworm (Invertebrate)

Classification:

• Kingdom Animalia

• Phylum Annelida

• Class Clitellata

• Order Haplotaxida

• Family Lumbricidae

• Genus Lumbricus

• Species Lumbricus terrestris

(Note: This represents one specific species of earthworm; classification varies across taxonomic systems.)

Octopus vulgaris

This is the scientific name of Octopus (Invertebrate)

Classification:

• Kingdom Animalia

• Phylum Mollusca

• Class Cephalopoda

• Order Octopoda

• Family Octopodidae

• Genus Octopus

• Species Octopus vulgaris

Araneus diadematus

This is the scientific name of Garden Spider (Invertebrate)

Classification:

• Kingdom Animalia

• Phylum Arthropoda

• Class Arachnida

• Order Araneae

• Family Araneidae

• Genus Araneus

• Species Araneus diadematus

(Note: This represents one specific species among many types of spiders.)

Felis catus

This is the scientific name of Common House Cat (Vertebrate)

Classification:

• Kingdom Animalia

• Phylum Chordata

• Class Mammalia

• Order Carnivora

• Family Felidae

• Genus Felis

• Species Felis catus

Canis lupus familiaris

This is the scientific name of Domestic Dog (Vertebrate)

Classification:

• Kingdom Animalia

• Phylum Chordata

• Class Mammalia

• Order Carnivora

• Family Canidae

• Genus Canis

• Species Canis lupus familiaris

(Note: Classified as a subspecies of the gray wolf, though some sources use Canis familiaris.)

Rana temporaria

This is the scientific name of Common Frog (Vertebrate)

Classification:

• Kingdom Animalia

• Phylum Chordata

• Class Amphibia

• Order Anura

• Family Ranidae

• Genus Rana

• Species Rana temporaria

(Note: This represents one specific species among many types of frogs.)

Phylum Protozoa (Subkingdom Protozoa)

Mostly microscopic, unicellular animals (single or colonial) with variable shapes (oval, spherical), and no germ layers, tissues, organs, or systems.

• Possess specialized organelles for movement and feeding

  • (pseudopodia, cilia, flagella, food and excretory vacuoles)

• a single or multiple nucleus

• mostly naked though some have protective exoskeletons.

• found in aquatic, terrestrial, or parasitic habitats.

—

Nutrition can be:

• holozoic

• holophytic (photosynthetic)

• saprozoic

• saprophytic

Reproduction:

• Asexual (fission, budding, sporulation) and sexual (conjugation).

Holozoic nutrition

A mode of nutrition in protozoans where the organism feeds by ingesting other organisms.

Holophytic nutrition

A mode of nutrition in protozoans where the organism produces its own food through photosynthesis.

Saprozoic nutrition

A mode of nutrition in protozoans where the organism feeds on dead animal matter.

Saprophytic nutrition

A mode of nutrition where an organism feeds on dissolved substances.

Coprozoic

An ecological or nutritional habit of organisms that live in or feed upon fecal material.

Phylum Sarcomastigophora

A phylum of protozoans that move either by flagella (Mastigophora) or by pseudopodia (Sarcodina).

Trypanosoma

A parasitic protozoan transmitted by the tsetse fly that causes African sleeping sickness in Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Sudan, and Northern Uganda).

Amoeba

It is the most well-known example of a sarcodine.

• Many are active predators, oozing about on their false feet until they come into contact with a suitable meal.

• At that point, the pseudopod flows around and engulfs the hapless prey, until it is completely "swallowed."

—

Classification:

• Kingdom-Protista

• Phylum-Sarcodina

• Class-Rhizopoda

• Order-Amoebida

• Family-Amoebidae

• Genus-Amoeba

• Species-proteus

Pseudopodia

Temporary cytoplasmic extensions, or 'false feet,' used by sarcodines such as Amoeba for locomotion and engulfing prey.

Phylum Apicomplexa

A phylum of single-celled parasitic, spore-forming protozoans characterized by having a special organelle called apical complex.

• It is considered as endoparasites

• Can form waves of contraction across the body surfaces to propel the organism through a liquid medium.

  Examples:

  • Plasmodium—the malarial parasite carried by the Anopheles mosquito

  • Toxoplasma gondii—a parasite of cats

Plasmodium

The apicomplexan malarial parasite whose most common carrier and vector is the Anopheles mosquito.

Plasmodium (falciparum, malariae, ovale, vivax)

• Kingdom Animalia

• Subkingdom Protozoa

• Phylum Apicomplexa

• Class Sporozoasida

• Order Eucoccidiorida

• Family Plasmodiidae

• Genus Plasmodium

• Species ___________

Toxoplasma gondii

An apicomplexan parasite whose definitive hosts are cats, which shed oocysts for less than two weeks, infecting various intermediate hosts.

Phylum Ciliophora

A protozoan phylum consisting of solitary, motile ciliates that inhabit freshwater and marine environments and possess cilia for locomotion.

Phylum Porifera

A phylum of sponges characterized by tiny pores and canals, a skeleton of minute calcium or silica spicules, and an absence of true tissues or organs.

Spicules

Minute structures composed of calcium or silica that form the skeletal support of sponges in Phylum Porifera.

Phylum Cnidaria

A phylum (Coelenterata) of more than 9,000 species containing cnidocytes (stinging organelles), radial symmetry, and a single external opening serving as both mouth and anus.

Cnidocytes

Specialized stinging organelles or cells found in cnidarians used for prey capture and defense.

Medusae

The floating and free-swimming body form of cnidarians found in open seas and lakes.

Phylum Platyhelminthes

A phylum of flatworms with flattened bodies, bilateral symmetry, and a gastrovascular cavity; many are parasites such as tapeworms and flukes.

Gastrovascular cavity

A digestive structure with a single external opening shared by members of Cnidaria and Platyhelminthes.

Cercariae

The motile larval stage of blood flukes released from snail intermediate hosts that serves as the infective stage for humans by penetrating the skin.

Phylum Nematoda

A phylum of roundworms (also known as Nemathelminthes) characterized by cylindrical, unsegmented bodies with pointed ends, a protective cuticle, and separate sexes.

Hyphae

The threadlike tubes that make up the vegetative body of a fungus.

Trichuris trichiura

A human parasitic nematode whose infective embryonated eggs are ingested via the fecal-oral route and whose adults inhabit the cecum.

Phylum Arthropoda

The most extensive animal phylum, consisting of about 900,000 species with jointed appendages, a chitinous exoskeleton, and well-developed organ systems.

Tagmata

Functional body units formed by the combination or fusion of somites (body segments) in arthropods.

Class Insecta

A diverse class of arthropods comprising over one million described species, characterized by a hard adult exoskeleton, 6 legs, a 3-part body, and 2 antennae.

Phylum Annelida

A phylum of about 9,000 species of segmented worms possessing a coelom, including earthworms, leeches, and marine polychaetes.

Coelom

A body cavity located between the intestinal canal and the outer body wall.

Phylum Echinodermata

A phylum of marine animals with spiny skins, pentamerous radial symmetry, a water vascular system, a coelom, and a complete digestive system.

Pentamerous radial symmetry

A body symmetry pattern in which body parts radiate in fives or multiples of five, characteristic of echinoderms.

Dioecious

Having male and female reproductive organs in separate individual organisms.

Phylum Chordata

A phylum of animals possessing a notochord, dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, and post-anal tail at some stage of development.

Notochord

A rodlike, semirigid body of cells that stiffens and supports the body or serves as a skeletal axis in chordates at least during embryonic or larval stages.