Building a case for common descent
Name _________________________________
THE DOMAINS OF LIFE
The five Kingdom system of classifying life is what most people are familiar with.
Kingdom
Monera
Protista
Plantae
Fungi
Animalia
Examples
Bacteria
Amoeba,
Algae
Ferns, maple
trees, sugar
beets
Mushrooms,
molds
Honey
Badgers,
velociraptors,
While this works, upon further investigation, it was discovered that there is a HUGE
division in the Monera kingdom. This difference dates back to a time before
eukaryotic cells even existed on the planet! So, if we are going to give plants,
animals, fungi, their own group, we need to allow the bacteria to have their own
groups, right?
Result: Monera split into two kingdoms  Arhaebacteria and Eubacteria.
BUT….the difference between the two types of bacteria is sooooo ancient, maybe
this division is so big that it is actually bigger than a kingdom!
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/alllife/threedomains.html
1. List the three domains of life. Provide a brief description of what types of
organisms are found in these domains.
2. Which domain of prokaryotes is associated with the “disease causing”
bacteria?
3. Which domain is associated with bacteria that live in extreme environments?
4. Based off the diagram below, which domain of prokaryotes is most closely
related to eukaryotes?
5. Mark with a star, where the very first cell would be on the diagram.
Revised classification of life. - Fill in the domains where appropriate.
Domains
Kingdom
Eubacteria
Archaebacteria Protista
Examples Cyanobacteria Methanogens
Amoeba,
Algae
Plantae
Fungi
Animalia
Mosses,
ferns,
pine
trees,
oaks
Mushrooms,
molds
Honey
Badgers,
velociraptors
RISE OF THE EUKARYOTES
Review: List the major differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. USE
YOUR NOTES!
From Prokaryotes to Eukaryotes Endosymbiotic Theory
Go to http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/_0_0/endosymbiosis_01
Read through the article on the amoeba
1. When the scientist gave the infected amoebas antibiotics, it was observed
that the amoebas died. What did this indicate?
Click the arrow at the bottom for “when two become one”
2. Three types of symbiosis are presented. Which type of symbiotic relationship
would potentially result in two different species becoming so interdependent
on each other that they become one individual organism?
Click “Next From Prokaryotes to Eukaryotes”
3. IN YOUR OWN WORDS, describe what endosymbiosis was.
4. Click Next  List key pieces of evidence supporting endosymbiotic origins of
chloroplasts and mitochondria.
4. Complete the cladogram below for life. HINT START AT THE BOTTOM!
Bacteria
Archae
Animals
Fungi
Plants
Common Ancestor
-
put a star where each endosymbiotic event occurred.
Using mitochondria to determine evolutionary relationships.
Go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/neanderthals/mtd_flash.html
1. The illustration shows DNA linkages between generations of humans. What
happens when you switch back and forth between “show all ancestors” and
“show mtDNA ancestors.”? Why does this happen?
2. Why does the ancestry line not change when you click between two siblings?
3. We know that the mitochondria you have in your cells all came from the first
cell we start off as, the zygote. That being said, whose mitochondrial DNA
would be most similar to your own, your maternal grandmother or your
paternal grandmother?
Whatever happened to the Neanderthals?
So, we have established that mitochondria have their own DNA.
Which gets passed down from mother to offspring.While the DNA in
our nucleus mixes every generation (half from mom, half from dad),
our mitochondrial DNA DOES NOT recombine. So, barring any
mutations, the DNA in the mitochondria SHOULD be the same from
one generation to the next. When we look at the mitochondrial DNA,
we look at small sections called control regions. If you were to look
at this section of your mitochondria and a sibling’s region, they
would almost always be the same UNLESS a mutation happened
there sometime after each of you were born. Luckily they are rare
but can be used to determine some interesting things regarding
evolutionary relationships. The longer two individual species have been evolving
independently from each other, the more likely their control regions will be
different.
http://www.geneticorigins.org/mito/media2.html
Work through the site, answer the questions below
1. How do the number of mutations that accumulate in the mtDNA relate to
how long organisms have been evolutionarily separated?
2. With regards to the human – chimp relationship, why is it incorrect to say,
“humans evolved from chimps?”
3. Approximately How long ago lived the common ancestor of all modern
humans on earth?
4. Suppose two different species have approximately 14 differences in their
mitochondria DNA. Approximately how many years ago did they share a
common ancestor?
5. Based off modern mtDNA sequencing, complete the cladogram below
showing the evolutionary relationship between human, chimpanzee, and
Neanderthal.
Chimpanzee
Common
Primate
Ancestor
Neanderthal
Modern
Humans
Place a star where the common ancestor for all modern humans would be found.
Solving the Mystery of the Romanovs.
Go to
http://www.geneticorigins.org/mito/mitoframeset.htm
Work through the scenario and answer the following
questions.
1. When comparing the mtDNA, why would they use a
living maternal relative and not a paternal relative?
2. Why did they have to use different mtDNA samples when trying to identify
Tsar Nicholas?