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UMUC Biology 102/103
Lab 6: Taxonomy
INSTRUCTIONS:
· On your own and without assistance, complete this Lab 6 Answer Form electronically and submit it via the Assignments Folder by the date listed on your Course Schedule (under Syllabus).
· To conduct your laboratory exercises, use the Laboratory Manual that is available in the WebTycho classroom (Reserved Reading or provided by your instructor) or at the eScience Labs Student Portal. Laboratory exercises on your CD may not be updated.
· Save your Lab6AnswerForm in the following format: LastName_Lab6 (e.g., Smith_Lab6).
· You should submit your document in a Word ( or x) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) for best compatibility.
Experiment 1: Classification of Common Objects
Questions
1. Did you find that the items grouped together as you worked down the flow chart had similar characteristics in terms of their appearance? What about function?
2. Do you feel that the questions asked were appropriate? What questions would you have asked? What objects would be grouped together with your system?
3. Pick 10 household items (e.g. spoon, book, paper clip, etc.) and design a taxonomic classification system to categorize them, similar to the one in Figure 2.
4. Can you devise a different classification system for the objects used in this experiment that would distinguish each in as many, or fewer steps?
Experiment 2: Classification of
Organism
s
Table 2: Key Characteristics of Some Organisms
| Organism |
Kingdom |
Defined Nucleus |
Mobile |
Cell Wall |
Photosynthesis |
Unicellular |
|||||||
|
E. coli |
✔ |
||||||||||||
|
Protozoa |
|||||||||||||
|
Mushroom |
|||||||||||||
|
Sunflower |
|||||||||||||
|
Bear |
Questions
1. Did this series of questions correctly organize each organism? Why or why not?
2. What additional questions would you ask to further categorize the items within the kingdoms (hint: think about other organisms in the kingdom and what makes them different than the examples used here)?
3. Do you feel that the questions asked were appropriate? What questions would you have asked?
TYPE YOUR FULL NAME:
Is the object cylindrical or round?
No
Yes
1.
Figure 2: Experiment 1: Classification of Common Objects Flow Chart
Start
6.
2.
No
Yes
Yes
Does the object have more than one hole?
8.
No
Yes
9.
Is the object used for writing?
Is the object longer than 5 cm?
7.
Yes
No
No
Yes
4.
5.
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
3.
Yes
Yes
Is the object smooth on the outside (no angles)?
No
Is there a hole in or near the center of the object?
Is the object metal?
Is there permanent ink on the object?
Does the organism have a defined nucleus?
Figure 3: Experiment 2: Classification of Organisms Flow Chart
Start
Yes
No
Kingdom:
Bacteria
Does the organism perform photosynthesis?
Is the organism mobile?
No
Yes
Kingdom:
Protist
No
Yes
Kingdom:
Animal
Does the organism have a cell wall?
No
Yes
Kingdom:
Fungi
Kingdom:
Plant
This week, we will do Lab 6: Taxonomy. Taxonomists have the task of ordering the many millions of species that are living today AND who lived before and are now extinct into an organized system that reveals their current biological and past evolutionary relationships. This is a tall order indeed! The first scientist who set about organizing plants and animals into a cognitive system was Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), an 18th century Swedish professor, physician and naturalist. His actual name was Carl von Linné. However, in those days, the language of the university, research and science was Latin; so he Latinized his name and his taxonomic system.
Actually, his taxonomic system is ingenious, because it shows evolutionary relationships (even though he knew nothing about evolution then), it allows the addition of new species, rearrangements when errors were discovered, and it prevents duplication. In addition, more taxonomic steps may be added; in other words, it allows expansion without destroying any previous assignments.
He created two so-called Kingdoms, Plantae and Animalia (all in Latin), and then he worked his way ‘down’ several steps called taxa (singular: =taxon):
Kingdom – Phylum – Class – Order – Family – Genus – Species
The species is the least inclusive taxon, because
all individuals of a given species may interbreed with each other and have fertile offspring.
This is the official definition of a species! Linnaeus created a so-called binomial species description, meaning it has two names – name of the genus and a ‘trivial’ name, also called “the specific epithet”. For example, modern humans are called
Homo sapiens
(human the wise!)
There are strict nomenclature rules such as: The genus name is always capitalized, the specific epithet is not; the name has to be Latinized or underlined! Please remember this in your work!
Today, this system has been greatly expanded, because researchers now have the tools to study the many genetic and physical differences between and within groups. Prokaryotes and eukaryotes are now separated by so-called Domains; in fact, the world of the prokarya is so vast and varied, that now we have the following domains:
Domain Bacteria
Domain Archaea
And
Domain Eukarya
The latter includes the following Kingdoms:
Protista(it is currently being divided into further Kingdoms!); Fungi; Plantae; Animalia
Linnaeus could only describe the physical, morphological and behavioral aspects of any member of a given species; he had no knowledge of genes and genetics. However, he did remarkably well with grouping together different organisms that are biologically related. For example, he absolutely did not like monkeys, but he conceded to include them into the same Order as humans! Personally, he did not like it at all, but as a scientist he knew that they belonged into the order Primata.
Before you begin this week’s exercises, please read the Introduction in your Lab Manual very carefully.
Experiment 1: You will classify common objects that you will find in your lab kit. The only additional tool you need is a pencil. Then follow through with the flow chart and answer the questions in detail. Don’t leave anything out! Then you will choose 10 household items and arrange them as a taxonomic classification in another flow chart.
Experiment 2: Please study the table carefully and complete the Kingdoms, and then ‘walk’ each organism through the ‘tree’ (Figure 3), and complete the table. Answer all of the questions carefully!
73
Kingdoms
Lab 6
Taxonomy
74
Lab 6: Taxonomy
75
Introduc on
Taxonomy is the science of iden fying and naming organisms into related groups, a process called clas
si ca on. Originally, taxonomic classi ca on of organisms was based solely on structural and physio
logical similari es. However, advanced technologies and informa on has allowed scien sts to specify
taxonomic classi ca on using gene c informa on (phylogene c similari es) as well.
Over me, many di erent classi ca on systems have been developed. Although many of them are sig
ni cant, one of the most widely accepted system is called the Linnaean system. Carl Linnaeus devel
oped the Linnaean system in 1735. This system uses La n because, at the me, it was a language used
by most of the scien c world. Although many of the exact terms set forth by Linneaus have been sub
s tuted, the Linnaean system is s ll respected by many scien sts as the fundamental taxonomic sys
tem.
The Linnaean system begins by assuming assumes that there are three kingdoms; the animal kingdom,
the plant kingdom, and the mineral kingdom (which has since been abandoned). Since the Linnean sys
tem was established, various life forms have been added to new kingdoms: Monera (for prokaryotes),
Pro sta (for pro sts and most algae), and Fungi. These ve kingdoms are s ll far from ideal, and con
nue to evolve as scien sts learn more knowledge of genomes con nues to advance. Modern taxono
mists have also supplanted these categories by forming domains, the highest taxonomic ranking. The
three domains that are used are: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryota. Each of the kingdoms listed above
are further divided into classes, orders, families, genera, and species.
Linnaeus also popularized the use of binomial nomenclature. Binomial nomenclature is the formal
naming system used for all living organisms. Every organism is iden ed with a two part name. The
rst name signi es the genus that the species belongs to, and the second name signi es the species
within the genus. Prior to this nomenclature, animals were classi ed based on how they moved.
The speci city of the organism increases it is classi ed into smaller, more narrow categories (Figure 1).
In other words, the categories get smaller in terms of the number of organisms that are included, with
the smallest widely accepted category being “sub species”.
Concepts to explore:
Taxonomy
Linnaean system
Binomial nomenclature
Taxonomic vs. phylogene c classi ca ons
Lab 6: Taxonomy
76
It is important to remember that taxonomy is highly
dependent on biology, par cularly anatomy and
physiology. In fact, one of many, but the most widely
accepted de ni on of a species is that its members
can interbreed and create viable o spring. For exam
ple, it is physiologically possible for a lion and a
gress to interbreed. However, because their o
spring (a liger) is sterile, it is not considered a viable
o spring. Therefore, lions and gers are not consid
ered the same species. However, a Labrador Re
triever and poodle can produce o spring that are not
sterile (the o spring is commonly called a labra
doodle). Thus they are considered the same species.
Remember, this is just one method of de ning a spe
cies. There are many other tools and de ni ons that
can be used to determine what organisms belong to
which species groups.
Looking at Figure 1, imagine you are standing at the
bo om of a large tree with many branches. While
on the ground you can see the whole tree (the trunk, large branches and small branches), but as you
begin to climb up the tree you can no longer see the whole tree, only the smaller branches. It’s the
same concept for classi ca on. Star ng at the “bo om” (or the domain) many organisms are includ
ed, but as you move “up” the classi ca on system, more are excluded and fewer remain. Table 1 illus
trates how you would classify a human being and a red maple tree.
Table 1: Classi ca on of humans and a red maple tree
As illustrated in Figure 1, the Linnaean system classi es organisms into sequen al groups:
Domain
Kingdom
Example: Human Being Red Maple
Domain Eukarya Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia Plantae
Phylum Chordata Tracheophyta
Class Mammalia Angiospermae
Order Primates Sapindales
Family Hominidae Acerceae
Genus Homo Acer
Species Sapien Acer rubrum
Figure 1: Taxonomy Tree. To use this tree, one
would begin at the bo om and work up.
Lab 6: Taxonomy
77
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Sub species are used in some classi ca ons and is generally well accepted, but not always included in
the Linnaean system.
A useful tool to remembering the order of the
Linnaean classi ca on system is developed by
crea ng a mnemonic phrase using the rst le er
of each classi ca on. For example: Daring Kids
Pick Cauli ower Over Fresh Grown Strawberries.
Experiment 1: Classi ca on of common objects
In this exercise, we will take common objects and group them into “taxonomic” categories.
Procedure
1. Spread the materials out on the table.
2. Use the ow chart (Figure 2; located in the back of this lab) to classify the objects. Answer the
ques ons for each object and place them in the proper groups. Fill in all the boxes along the way.
If the box says “ok” in it, only one object ts in this category. Next to that box, write the object
that is being described.
Make your own mnemonic phrase:
_______________________________________
Materials
Pencil*
Permanent Marker
Marble
Bead (hole in the center)
Ruler
Straw
Washer
Hexagonal nut
Bu on
Figure 2 ( ow chart) at the end of
the lab
*You must provide
Lab 6: Taxonomy
78
Ques ons
1. Did you nd that the items grouped together as you worked down the ow chart had similar char
acteris cs in terms of their appearance? What about func on?
2. Do you feel that the ques ons asked were appropriate? What ques ons would you have asked?
What objects would be grouped together with your system?
3. Pick 10 household items (e.g. spoon, book, paper clip, etc.) and design a taxonomic classi ca on
system to categorize them, similar to the one in Figure
2.
4. Can you devise a di erent classi ca on system for the objects used in this experiment that would
dis nguish each in as many, or fewer steps?
Experiment 2: Classi ca on of organisms
Materials
Use Table 2 below as well as the “tree” (Figure 3) a ached at the end
of the lab.
Lab 6: Taxonomy
79
Table 2: Key characteris cs of some organisms
Procedure
1. Select the rst organism from Table 2 (E. coli).
2. Use the “tree” (Figure 3; located at the back of this lab) start at the base, and answer each ques
on un l the organism reaches the end of a “branch”. Write the organisms name in the green box.
3. Repeat this for the remaining organisms.
4. A er classi ca on, ll in Table 2 with the correct kingdom for each organism.
Ques ons
1. Did this series of ques ons correctly organize each organism? Why or why not?
2. What addi onal ques ons would you ask to further categorize the items within the kingdoms (hint:
think about other organisms in the kingdom and what makes them di erent than the examples
used here)?
3. Do you feel that the ques ons asked were appropriate? What ques ons would you have asked?
Organism Kingdom De ned Nucleus Mobile Cell Wall Photosynthesis Unicellular
E. coli
Protozoa
Mushroom
Sun ower
Bear
Lab 6: Taxonomy
80
Is the object cylindrical or
round?
Yes
Figure 2: Experiment 1: Classi ca on of Common Objects Flow Chart
Start
1.
Is the object
used for
wri ng?
Is there permanent ink
on the object?
Is the object metal?
Is there a hole in or near the
center of the object?
No
Yes
Is the object smooth on
the outside (no angles)?
Yes
No
2.
Yes No
Yes
Yes
3.
Yes No
Yes
4. 5.
Yes No
Yes
6.
No
Is the object longer
than 5 cm?
7.
Yes No
Does the object
have more than one
hole? 8.
9.
No
Lab 6: Taxonomy
81
Figure 3: Experiment 2: Classi ca on of Organisms Flow Chart
Start
Does the organism have a de
ned nucleus?
Does the organism
perform
photosynthesis?
Is the organism mobile?
Kingdom:
Plant
Kingdom:
Fungi
Yes
No
Does the organism
have a cell wall?
Kingdom:
Animal
Yes No
Kingdom:
Pro st
Kingdom:
Bacteria
Yes No
Yes No
