Taxonomy Study Guide
Due: Wednesday, February 14th
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What are the characteristics of a human (why are we a chordate or a mammal)?
What are the characteristics of an animal?
Name the kingdom a multicellular, eukaryotic, heterotroph with a cell wall belongs to.
List the characteristics the kingdom plantae.
What are the characteristics of a protist?
What is the difference between a creature in protista and monera?
What is a difference between a fungi and an animal?
How do scientists determine which animals are most closely related (list 3 ways)?
How can one determine whether two organisms are part of the same species? Which way is
best?
10) What are the 7 levels of taxonomy?
11) Write the scientific name for a human.
12) How do you write a scientific name?
13) How is a dichotomous key different from a phylogenetic tree?
14) Why is color a bad characteristic to use when making a dichotomous key (give two reasons)?
15) What was the first kingdom to appear in the fossil record? What was the second kingdom?
16) Why are physical characteristics bad when constructing a phylogenetic tree? What can we
use instead?
17) What is the purpose of antibodies in the body?
18) If you mix human blood with an anti-human antibody, what will happen?
19) If a reaction happens when human blood is mixed with baboon antibody, what does that
mean?
20) Draw the shape of DNA.
21) What is that shape called?
22) What are the three parts of DNA?
23) What is the purpose of DNA?
24) What must be done to separate DNA from the rest of the cell?
25) Why is isolating DNA useful? What can it be used for?
26) In order to compare DNA in a DNA gel, what must be done to the DNA once it has been
extracted from the cells?
27) Why do multiple bands appear in a DNA gel?
28) Which DNA segments travel the fastest?
29) Explain why the DNA moves along the gel.
30) Which primate is most closely related to humans?
31) Explain how you know this (what evidence do you have).
You will be asked to do the following things on the test:
a) Read a phylogenetic tree.
b) Interpret the results of a DNA gel.
c) Determine the kingdom of an unknown creature.
d) Determine how closely related two things are based on their taxonomy.
e) Interpret the results of a blood-antibody experiment.