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level: 10.1 Species and taxonomy

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level questions: 10.1 Species and taxonomy

QuestionAnswer
Species meaning- A group of similar organisms able to reproduce to give fertile offspring
The binomial naming system- Nomenclature (naming system) used for classification - Organisms given 1 internationally accepted scientific name in Latin that has 2 parts
First name- Genus name - Has capital letter - Written in italics or underlined
Second name- Species name - Lower case - Written in italics or underlined
Reason for naming system- Helps avoid confusion of common names
Courtship behaviour- Carried out by organisms to attract a mate of the right species - Its species specific, so members of same species can recognise each other - Prevents inbreeding + more successful reproduction
How they achieve courtship- Recognising members of own species - Identify a mate that is capable of breeding - Form a pair bond - Synchronise mating - Become able to breed
Recognising members of own species- Ensures that mating only takes place between members of same species - As only members of same species can form fertile offspring
Identify a mate that is capable of breeding- Both partners need to be sexually mature, fertile + receptive to mating
Form a pair bond- Lead to successful mating + raising of offspring
Synchronise mating- So it takes place when there is the maximum probability of the sperm + egg meeting
Become able to breed- By bringing a member of the opposite sex into a physiological state that allows breeding to occur
Classification meaning- The grouping of organisms
Taxonomy meaning- The theory + practice of biological classification
Two main forms of biological classification- Artificial classification - Phylogenetic classification
Artificial classification- Organising organisms according to differences that are useful at the time - Features like colour, size...analogous characteristics
Analogous characteristics- Features that have the same function but do not have the same evolutionary origins e.g. wings
Phylogenetic classification- Based on the evolutionary relationships between organisms + their ancestors - Classifies species into groups using shared features derived from ancestors - Arranges groups into hierarchy, no overlap - Partly based on homologous characteristics
Phylogenetic trees- Shows relationship between members of families - 1st branch represents common ancestor of all the family members - Each following branch represents another common ancestor from which a different group diverged - Closely related species diverged away from each other most recently
Taxonomy- 8 levels of groups to classify them, taxa, each group called taxon - Arranged in hierarchy, largest groups at top, no overlap - Divides into smaller groups that are more closely related
The 3 groups in the domain- Eukarya - Archaea - Bacteria
The taxa- Domain - Kingdom - Phylum - Class - Order - Family - Genus - Species
Eukarya (domain)- Made up of 1 or more eukaryotic cells - Has membrane-bound organelles - Has membranes containing fatty acid chains attached to glycerol by ether linkages - Not all possess cells with cell wall, but where they do it contains no murein - Ribosomes larger that archaea + bacteria
Archaea (domain)- Single-celled prokaryotes that were originally classified as bacteria - Differ from bacteria as their genes + protein synthesis are more similar to eukaryotes - Membranes contain fatty acid chains attached to glycerol by ether linkages - No murein in cell walls - More complex form of RNA polymerase
Bacteria (domain)- A group of single-celled prokaryotes with prokaryotic features