Crash Course Biology: Taxonomy Flashcards

Taxonomy Overview

• Taxonomy is the discipline focused on classifying organisms and assigning universally accepted names.
• A phylogenetic tree visually represents evolutionary relationships among different groups of organisms.

Key Figures

• Carl Linnaeus, known as the "Father of Taxonomy," established vital classification systems and is renowned for binomial nomenclature, which gives each organism a two-part scientific name.

Types of Traits

• Analogous traits are similarities between species not due to common ancestry but rather independent evolutionary processes, often driven by natural selection.
• Homologous traits are features inherited from a recent common ancestor, indicating direct evolutionary relationships.

Taxonomic Categories

• Taxa refer to the various categories used in the classification system to organize living organisms.
• Binomial nomenclature consists of a two-word naming system, comprising the genus and species names for each organism.

Domains and Kingdoms

• Domains represent the highest taxonomic category above the kingdom level, consisting of Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.
• Kingdoms are the largest groups in biological classification and include:
  • Protista: Unicellular organisms that are neither animals nor plants, including certain algae, slime molds, and protozoa, capable of both autotrophy and heterotrophy.
  • Fungi: Comprise heterotrophic organisms that derive energy and nutrients from decaying organic matter.
  • Animalia: Complex, multicellular organisms that typically lack cell walls, can move, and respond rapidly to their environment, all being heterotrophic.
  • Plantae: Composed of multicellular photosynthetic autotrophs with cell walls rich in cellulose.