Name: ___________________________________ Period: _____ Date: ____________________
Chapter 17 Reading Guide: Classification
of Organisms
17.1: Biodiversity
1. Define these two words:
Taxonomy:
Taxon:
2. Who was one of the first people to classify organisms and what were the groups he
used?
3. Who is the person responsible for the modern system of classification and when
did he live?
4. The system of two-part names is known as ___________________________
________________________________.
5. Biologists refer to variations of a species that live in different geographic areas as
____________________________________.
17.2: Systematics
6. What is phylogeny?
7. What is a phylogenetic tree and what does it show. Draw an example.
8. What pieces of evidence do biologists have of shared ancestry and use to classify
according to phylogeny? (there are five mentioned and 3 explained)
9. How is cladistics similar to and different from phylogenetics?
10. Differentiate between a shared trait and a derived trait. Be sure to give examples.
11. Describe how a cladogram is constructed.
12. What is a molecular clock and how is it used to classify organisms?
17.3: Modern Classification
Above the level of kingdom is something called a domain. Name the three domains,
describe characteristics of and give examples of organisms in each domain.
13. - 15.
16. – 18.
19. – 21.
Describe the characteristics and give examples of the following kingdoms:
22. - 23. Kingdom Protista
24. - 25. Kingdom Fungi
26. - 27. Kingdom Plantae
28. - 29. Kingdom Animalia
Answer Key__ Period: _____ Date: ____________________
Chapter 17 Reading Guide: Classification
of Organisms
Name: __
17.1: Biodiversity
1. Define these two words:
Taxonomy:
Science of naming, describing, classifying
organisms
Taxon:
Group that organisms are put into
2. Who was one of the first people to classify organisms and what were the groups he
used?
Aristotle….plants and animals
3. Who is the person responsible for the modern system of classification and when
did he live?
Linnaeus…1700’s (1707 – 1778)
4. The system of two-part names is known as __
Binomial__
Nomenaclature___.
___
5. Biologists refer to variations of a species that live in different geographic areas as
subspecies___. (e.g. dog and cat breeds)
__
17.2: Systematics
6. What is phylogeny?
Evolutionary history of an organism
7. What is a phylogenetic tree and what does it show. Draw an example.
Looks like a family tree, branches shows
how closely related organisms are
8. What pieces of evidence do biologists have of shared ancestry and use to classify
according to phylogeny? (there are five mentioned and 3 explained)
 visible similarities (living and/or fossils)
 patterns of embryonic development
 similar chromosomes and molecules
(DNA/RNA)
 homologous structures
 analogous structures
9. How is cladistics similar to and different from phylogenetics?
Similar: attempts to show evolutionary
relationships
Different: uses only shared characteristics
and derived characteristics, not other
evidence
10. Differentiate between a shared trait and a derived trait. Be sure to give examples.
Shared trait (character): something a group
has in common, e.g. all mammals have
hair, feed young milk,
Derived trait (character): something that is
unique to that group, e.g. all birds have
feathers, all amphibians spend part of
their life in water and part on land.
11. Describe how a cladogram is constructed.
Make a data table of characteristics
Whichever group has least traits in common
was first, and so on
12. What is a molecular clock and how is it used to classify organisms?
Using the number of changes in molecules
(e.g. DNA, RNA, Proteins) as an estimate
of when evolutionary events happened.
17.3: Modern Classification
Above the level of kingdom is something called a domain. Name the three domains,
describe characteristics of and give examples of organisms in each domain.
13. - 15.
16. – 18.
19. – 21.
Domain Bacteria
small, single-celled, prokaryotic (no
nucleus) usu. with cell wall,
reproduce by binary fission
e.g. bacteria (staph, strep, E. coli),
Kingdom Eubacteria
Domain Archaea
small, prokaryotic, autotrophic (make
own food) and chemosynthetic, live
in harsh environments, distinct cell
membranes
e.g. Archaea (that’s what they’re all
called)
Kingdom Archaebacteria
Domain Eukarya
eukaryotic (have nucleus, organelles)…
that’s the only thing they have in
common!
e.g. plants, animals, fungi and protists
(single celled organisms)
Describe the characteristics and give examples of the following kingdoms:
22. - 23. Kingdom Protista
Eukaryotes that are not plants, animals or
fungi…a mish-mash of what’s left over
and doesn’t fit anywhere else
e.g. seaweed, amoeba and paramecia
24. - 25. Kingdom Fungi
eukaryotic, heterotrophic (eat food),
uni/multicellular, absorb (rather than
digest) food
e.g. yeast, mushrooms, molds
26. - 27. Kingdom Plantae
eukaryotic, multicellular, autotrophic (make
own food, except for a few spp)
e.g. daffodils, trees, ferns, moss, green
peppers
28. - 29. Kingdom Animalia
eukaryotic, multicellular, heterotrophic
e.g. people, otters, sponges, jellyfish,
platypus