Study Guide for Classification Test
1. What is classification in Life Science, and why use it? Classification is the system of arranging
organisms in an orderly fashion, where organisms are placed into similar groups or on
evolutionary branches. It’s helpful because it gives people a common WORLDWIDE
dictionary of organisms, helps to classify and understand new organisms, and helps to better
understand existing organisms.
2. Who is the “Father of Classification”, and what was his background and contributions?.
“Carolus Linnaeus (or Carl) is the 18th century Swedish-born creator of the traditional
classification system used today. He came up with the two-word approach called binomial
nomenclature, where both genus (in initial capital letter) and species provides a unique
name for each living thing, usually in Latin. For example, Homo sapiens refers to modern
humans. He also started us down the path of Kingdom, Phylum, and other levels of
classification.”
3. What are 8 levels, in order from broadest to most specific, in the traditional system to classify life?
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
4. What are the six kingdoms, how do they relate to the 3 domains?
Domain Bacteria
Kingdom Bacteria
Domain Archaea
Kingdom Archaea
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Protoctista or Protista
Kingdom Plantae
Kingdom Fungi
Kingdom Animalia
5. For each kingdom, explain the energy source and an example of a species:
bacteria – other cells, other food items, example: tuberculosis bacteria
Arcaea –unconventional, extreme locations such as deep ocean vents- example:,sulphur hot springs
bacteria
Protista, can either be producers, from Sunlight or can be consumers, eating other cell: Example,
some algae;
Plantae, the classic producer, energy from sunlight – example grass;
fungi, decompose, digesting food outside its body- example, mushroom:
Animal, the classic consumer, example – my pet hamster or my pet person.
6. What is an alternate and more modern way to classify living things?
Cladograms (acceptable answers would be phylogenetics, cladistics, Tree of Life approach)
What is the scientific foundation for this alternative approach?
DNA-based analysis to arrange by common ancestry.
What are its advantages over the traditional system?
More focused on specific evolutionary lines, and is probably more scientifically accurate.
What advantages does the traditional system have?
It covers more organisms, and is easier to apply, since you don’t need a DNA analysis.
7. Given the following organisms, and adaptations important for their evolution, produce a diagram
showing their relationship: Organism: Hagfish, Shark, Tuna, Flying Fish, Salamander, Frogs, Crocodile,
T Rex, Mouse, Chimpanzee, Neandertal, Finch: Adaptation: Jaws, Vertebrae, Bony Skeleton, Wing-like
fins, Four limbs, Amphibian abilities, Scales, Huge size, Mammary glands, Eggs with shells
(Ok, on this one I couldn’t readily transfer a drawing to the computer, so here is the general
approach, with one specific thing to look for. In general, start with the simplest, earliest organism –
the hagfish in this example, at the start of your phylogenetic tree. Then place a mark for the first
adaptation – in this case, jaws, and have a branch going out showing the shark as the first to have
jaws. The shark also is the first to have a vertebrae, so as the problem is written, there would be two
adaptations. I won’t do that on the test, however, it was careless of me to show two adaptations.
The NEXT adaptation, a bony skeleton, applies to ALL that follow, so place a mark on the main
branch for the Bony Skeleton, and off that mark have a branch go off for the Tuna. Here’s the key
thing, the Wing-Like Fins apply ONLY to the flying fish – not succeeding organisms, so that will NOT
be a mark on the main branch. Instead it will be a mark on the branch where the Tuna is, and off
that branch will be a secondary branch for just the Flying Fish. Then it’s back to the main branch,
and the usual mark for an adaptation and each succeeding organism. The secondary branching
should also apply to the 3 mammals shown, so they will branch off, and the Finch will be on the main
branch. This one will be a challenge, I will probably base it on something like the alien life forms
you did the dichotomous key activity on)
8. Provide an example of a phylogenetic tree classification where a clade exists and provides a
different classification from the traditional classification method:
The Clade Therapoda includes reptiles, dinosaurs, and birds, as they all share common ancestry.
However, the traditional classification places them in different classes (Reptilia and Aves).
9. Be prepared to make AND apply a dichotomous tree similar those done previously to class
activities. For example, if you were asked to prepare a dichotomous tree to identify all individuals in
the class, you might use the following approach:
(a)Is the individual an adult? If yes. It must be Mr. Peck. If not, go to (b)
(b) Is the individual a boy? If yes, go to (c) If no, go to (h) etc, etc.