1) Dog and Wolf

We already have studied that classification is an excellent way of organizing the organisms in discrete
but closely related groups. This is because, even when two organisms are different, there exists some
similarity between the two at some level of biological classification.

So, if we see the biological classification of Dog and Wolf, we can clearly assess that both are most
related to each other than any other two organisms mentioned in the chart. They have perfectly same
classification scheme from Kingdom to genus. One and only thing is different, that is they are different
species.

2) Fly

If we look at six organisms mentioned in the chart, from house cat to Fly, all belong to same kingdom,
phylum and class except a Fly. This is because all five organisms are mammals, but fly is an insect. There
are some striking differences between mammals and insects e.g mammals tend to have a backbone but
insects do not have.

No doubt they fly shares some similarities with mammals too, like both have evolved lungs for
respiration, both possess central nervous system for coordination. But, if we see from a proper
classification perspective and compare with mammals, they only share the kingdom with mammals’ i.e
Animalia.

3) What kind of animal is Vulpes velox? How do you know?

Vulpes velox is specie of Fox that is commonly known as Swift Fox. As we can see the classification of Fox
from figure 2, it belongs to the family Canidae and order Carnivora. Like all other fox, it is an omnivore
and it can eat fruits, grasses as well as small mammals. It is of small size like just about the size of a
domestic cat.

The research shows that Swift Fox lives in western grassland and short grass meadows. It is very closely
related to another specie of fox called Kit Fox. Sometimes both are assumed to be sub-specie of Vulpes
velox, because they can mate with each other and produce hybrids when they get a chance.

4) How does Figure 2-2 indicate that a dog is more closely related to a red fox than a house cat?
[1pt]
As already stated, the more levels of classification two organisms share the more closely related they
are. So, if we look at classification scheme of Dog and Red fox, it is clear that perfectly share similar
classification from Kingdom to Family. It is just that they evolved in to a separate genus and ultimately
became different species.

Now, if we compare the classification between dog and house cat, they belong to different genus as well
as families. So, as the family of dog and cat is different but the family of dog and red fox is same.
Therefore, we can say that on the basis of classification system, Dog is more closely related to a fox than
a house cat.

5) Do all organisms that belong to the order Carnivora also belong to the phylum Chordata?
Explain. [1pt]

Yes, all the organisms that belong to the order Carnivora definitely belong to the phylum Chordata. This
is because an order is a lower level of classification and a phylum is a higher level of classification. If we
see at the classification scheme, kingdom is the highest level of classification, after which comes phylum,
then class, then order, then genus and then species. If two organisms are different only at specie level, it
means that they share perfectly same classification until genus level.

Here, in figure 2, we see that there are four organisms that share the same order Carnivora i.e House
cat, Red fox, Dog and Wolf. If they belong to same order, it means that they definitely share same
classification on levels above order, and phylum is actually a level of classification that comes above
order. So, its very evident that organisms that belong to the order Carnivora also belong to the phylum
Chordata.

6) 1How is the species level of classification different from the other taxonomic levels?

If we talk about taxonomic levels of classification, the kingdom and phylum levels are the broadest levels
of classification. However, the specie level classification is the most specific way of classifying any
organism.

Specie is the basic unit of the whole hierarchy of classification. We know that this is the thing that
uniquely differentiates one living organism from other living organisms. It is a surprising thing that two
different organisms can share any level of classification but not specie level. This is because; it is a
unique level that classifies even closest related organism from one another.

Just look at the classification of Dog and Wolf in figure 2, they share perfectly same classification till the
level of genus but they are entirely different species. This is the level that uniquely discriminates two
very closely related group of organisms. This is the level, which tells us that are two organisms suitable
to mate with each other and produce a fertile offspring or not. That is why a specie is called unit of
classification.

7) Why do our classification systems change? [1pt]

This is because the criteria of classifying the organisms changes with the passage of time when we get
an increased understanding about them. Many years ago, Aristotle classified the plants into shrubs,
hurbs and trees Anaima and Enaima  on the basis of absence and presence of red blood cells.

After him, Linnaeus classified the organisms in only two groups i.e. animals and plants on the basis of
physiological and morphological traits. After him, Ernst Haeckel included microorganisms in the
classification system by introducing a third kingdom called Protoctista .Then came, Copeland who
classified microorganisms in further two kingdoms and thus gave us four kingdom system. And later on,
R.H. Whittaker introduced most common and widely accepted system of classification called 5 kingdom
classification systems.

SO the answer is very simple that with the passage of time, human being’s knowledge of classifying an
organisms increases due to latest experimentations and technologies. The classification system can also
improve even now, when we get more information of molecular aspects of organisms like genetic (DNA,
RNA) sequences.