1
Q
What is the classification order?
A
- kingdom
- phylum
- class
- order
- family
- genus
- species
2
Q
What is a genus?
A
-a group of closely related species
3
Q
What is a species?
A
-a group of organisms that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring
4
Q
How do classification systems change over time?
A
- newly discovered species might not fit into any categories, this might be living species or newly discovered fossils. So it is hard to know here to place things.
- DNA sequencing allows us to see genetic differences between two groups. As data is collected, we may find that two groups aren’t as closely related as we thought, or two groups we though were very different are actually close relatives
5
Q
Why is classifying organisms into species not always straightforward?
A
- asexual reproduction
- hybrids
- evolution is a continuous process
6
Q
What is asexual reproduction?
A
- reproducing by making a copy of yourself
- there is no interbreeding
7
Q
What are hybrids?
A
- offspring produced by the interbreeding of two species
- hybrids are usually infertile, so they aren’t new species, this makes it difficult to classify them
8
Q
What is the binominal system and why is it good?
A
- a two-part Latin naming system
- the first relates to the genus, the latter to the species, e.g. homo sapiens
- it is used by scientists all over the world
- different languages refer to a particular species by the same name–avoiding potential confusion
9
Q
Why does evolution make classifying organisms into species difficult?
A
- organisms evolve over time
- they may evolve so much it will form a new species, but it is difficult to tell when this happens.
