Unit Two: Biodiversity

Biology 112

Students should be able to:

Understand the concept of binomial nomenclature as developed by Linneaus and understand its advantages for the scientific community

Outcome:

Classification systems are used to name

organisms and group them in a logical manner

Taxonomy is the study of classification of living things

Organisms are living things that can be assigned a classification based on their physical characteristics

Principles of Taxonomy

Referring to organisms by their common name

can be confusing Scientists have agreed to use a single name

for each species A species is a group of similar organisms that

can breed and produce fertile offspring Latin and Greek are used when assigning

scientific names

Assigning Scientific Names

Carolus Linneaus (1707-1778) developed a two word

naming system called binomial nomenclature for all species

It is always written in italics, the first word is always capitalized and the second word in lower case

The first word indicates the genus (closely related organisms) to which the species belongs

The second word indicates the species, which may give indication about a particular trait of the organisms

Sometimes, there is a third word to indicate a subspecies (which is called trinomial nomenclature)

Binomial Nomenclature

Example of Binomial Nomenclature

Canis lupus is the gray wolf with over 37 subspecies - binomial

One of those subspecies is the domestic dog, which is named Canis lupus familiaris

- trinomial

Do the organisms Ursus arctos and Ursus maritimus belong to the same genus? Same species?

What characteristic do you feel as though the word ‘arctos’ conveys? ‘maritimus’?

Check for Understanding

There are 7 levels that are considered to be

hierachical – from largest to smallest Each of these levels is called a taxon or taxonomic

category Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species

Linnaeus’s Classification System

Kingdom – plants and animals

Phylum

Organisms share certain characteristics

One such phylum include mammals, whom belong to Phylum Chordata

Class

Class Mammalia Narrows the

characteristics further In this case, all the

characteristics of the phylum chordata with the addition of warm-blooded, have body hair and produce milk for their young

Order

Similar families are grouped into an order

Order carnivora All the

characteristics of class mammalia with the addition of meat eaters

Family

A group of genera that share many common characteristics

Genus and species

Homo sapien

Textbook – read pages 447-450 and complete

the gudied reading for Section 18.1

Complete question 6 on page 450

Complete the question in the envelope...

Section 18-1 Review – due the end of class

For the remainder of class…