19.1 - Systematic Biology (Biology / Sylvia S. Mader, Michael Windelspecht, ASU -- Twelfth Edition)

  1. Systematic Biology = a quantitative science that uses traits of living and fossilized organisms to infer relationships over time

  2. The Field of Taxonomy: a branch of systematic biology that identifies, names, and organizes biodiversity into related categories

    1. vocab:

      1. taxon = group for organisms with shared traits

      2. classification = process that taxonomy follows

      3. phylogeny = evolutionary family tree

    2. GOAL: to classify all life on earth into “natural groups” with shared evolutionary history

    3. early taxonomists relied on physical characteristics

      1. problematic because some shared traits are due to covergent evolution, not common ancestry

  3. Linnaean Taxonomy

    1. Carolus Linnaeus = father of modern taxonomy, devised binomial nomenclature

    2. binomial nomenclature

      1. structure: [Genus, specific epithet]

        1. genus: can contain many species

        2. specific epithet: refers to one species in said genus

      2. names can be:

        1. descriptive (based on color/shape properties)

        2. geographical = based on where they live/d

        3. eponymus = based on a person’s name

    3. Linnaean Classification Hierarchy

      1. taxonomists use a nested, hierarchical set of categories to classify organisms

        1. from least —> most specific

          1. domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species

        2. classification hierarchy allows scientists to organize diversity

        3. nomenclature = procedure of assigning scientific names to taxonomic groups