Lesson 1:

● Assigning scientific names

○ Taxonomy - a system of naming and classifying organisms based on their
charred characteristics and universal rules.
■ Universally agreed upon scientific names among the community.
○ Binomial nomenclature - each species is assigned a two part scientific name.
■ System Proposed by Carolus Linnaeus
■ These names are always written in italics
■ EX: Homo Sapiens
○ Ursus Maritimus - Polar bear
■ Ursus - Genus
■ Maritimus - Species name that typically describes a specific characteristic
of an organisms’ habitat
○ Ursus Americanus - American black bear
■ Four other species exist within the genus Ursus
● Classifying Species into larger groups
○ Systematics - the science of naming and grouping organisms
■ The goal of systematics is to organize living things into groups that have
biological meaning
● These groups are referred to as taxa
○ Linnaeus developed a classification system that has since evolved into grouping
organisms into seven hierarchical taxa:
■ Kingdom(Most Broad), Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and
Species(Most Specific)
○ Example of Genus and Species: Camels - two different species
■ Camelus Bactrianus - Bactrian Camel (two humps)
■ Camelus Dromedarius - Dromedary Camel (one hump)
○ Example of a family: Llamas
■ Llamas are closely related to camels but exhibit some differences
■ Classified under the genus Lama
● Species - Lama Glama
■ Both camels and llamas are classified under the family Camelidae
○ Closely related families are grouped into a larger taxon called an order
■ The family Camelidae is grouped in with several other families
● This includes deer(Cervidae) and cattle (Bovidae)
■ These families all fall into the taxonomic order Artiodactyla
● Key characteristic: hoofed animals with an even number of toes
○ Similar orders are classified into larger taxon termed classes
■ Order Artiodactyla is placed into class Mammalia
● Warm blooded animals that have body hair and produce milk for
their young
○ Classes are grouped into phylums
○ Class Mammalia, along with many other classes, are grouped into phylum
Chordata
■ Includes the Phyla: Mammalia, Aves (Birds), Reptilia (Reptiles), Amphibia
(Amphibians), and all classes of fish
■ Key characteristic: Nerve cord along the back
■ Phylum Porifera - Sea Sponges
■ Phylum Cnidaria - Jellyfish, Sea Anemones, and Coral
■ Phylum Platyhelminthes - Flatworms
■ Phylum Nematoda - Roundworms
■ Phylum Mollusca - Snails, Slugs, Clams, Octopus, and Squid
■ Phylum Annelida - Earthworms, Leeches, etc. (Segmented Worms)
■ Phylum Arthropoda - Insects, Spiders, Crabs, etc.
■ Phylum Echinodermata - Sea Stars and Urchins
■ Phylum Chordata - Vertebrates, Lancelets, and Tunicates
○ Kingdom is the largest and most inclusive taxonomic group.
■ All multicellular animals fall into Kingdom Animalia
■ Other Kingdoms include:
● Plantae
● Fungi
● Protista
● Eubacteria
● Archaebacteria
○ Camels fall into
■ Kingdom: Animalia
■ Phylum: Chordata
■ Class: Mammalia
■ Order: Artiodactyla
■ Family: Camelidae
■ Genus: Camelus
■ Species: Camelus Bactrainus and Camelus Dromedarius
○ Organisms are classified based on similarities and differences
○ Which characteristics are more important?
■ Classification of higher taxa have groups have changed over time
■ Taxonomists and Biologists try to classify organisms based on
evolutionary relationships
○ During Linnaeus’ time, only two kingdoms existed: Animalia and Plantae
■ Prokaryotes were then placed in a kingdom called Monera
■ Monera was then divided into Eubacteria and Archaebacteria
■ Animalia was divided into Animalia, Protista, and Fungi
● This leaves us with a total of six taxonomic kingdoms at this point:
● Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, Eubacteria, and Archaebacteria
 ○ Three Domains
■ There are two prokaryotic groups above Kingdom
● Domain Bacteria and Archaea
■ Domain Eukarya (All Eukaryotes)

Lesson 2:
● Darwin’s “Tree of Life” classification and Linnaeus’ taxonomic classifications can clash
● Linnaeus’s classification would place birds and reptiles together because they both
descend from dinosaurs.
● Evolutionary classification allows us to understand these relationships
● Evolutionary Classification:
○ Phylogeny - The study of evolutionary history of lineages of organisms
■ The goal of phylogeny is to group species into larger categories that
reflect evolutionary lines of descent, rather than overall similarities and
differences
○ Phylogeny places organisms into taxa whose members are more closely related
to each other
■ The larger the taxon is, the farther back in time a common ancestor was
shared
○ Clade - A group of species that includes a single common ancestor and all of its
descendants
■ Archaeopteryx - Extremely old winged organisms that is an ancestor of
most modern-day birds
○ Certain taxa fail the “clade test”
■ Includes species descended from more than one ancestor
● EX: Class Reptilia includes some descendants of birds
● Both class Aves (birds) and Reptilia descended from dinosaurs
○ Cladistic Analysis - Compares certain traits to determine when organisms
branched off from common ancestors
■ Cladograms - Links together the information from cladistic analysis in
diagrams
● Links groups of organisms by hypothesizing evolutionary lineage
■ The bottom or “root” of a cladogram represents a common ancestor
■ Each branch point represents the last point at which species shared a
common ancestor.
■ The higher up the cladogram, the more recently species shared a
common ancestor
○ Derived Character - a trait that arose in the most recent common ancestor of a
lineage and was passed to its descendants.
■ EX: Clade Tetrapoda - a group of organisms with four limbs
■ EX: Clade Carnivora - possesses sheard teeth
■ EX: Clade Mammalia - possess fur
● Some organisms fall within all three clades
○ Some organisms evolve and lose certain traits
■ EX: Snakes are reptiles but are not tetrapods
■ The descendants of snakes possess four limbs
■ Descendants of whale were tetrapods as well
● Vestigial structures
○ True clades must contain an ancestral species and all of its descendants
■ Clades must exclude all species that are not descendants
■ Cladistic analysis show that many traditional taxonomic groups form valid
clades
● EX: Clade Mammalia and Class Mammalia correspond with each
other
■ Some taxonomic groups are not valid clades
● EX: birds and reptiles share a common ancestor but are in
different taxonomic classes
● Main idea: Clades show evolutionary relationships while
taxonomic groups are more based off shared characteristics
○ Cladistic analysis is largely based on physical characteristics
■ Genetic comparisons must be made between organisms that don’t share
physical similarities
■ DNA can be used as a derived character when making when creating a
cladogram
○ All organisms carry genetic information in DNA
■ All genes mutate over time
■ Shared genes with slight differences can be treated as derived characters
■ Allows biologists to hypothesize evolutionary relationships
● The more derived genetic characters two species share, the more
recently they shared a common ancestor
○ Molecular analysis shows relationships between organisms
■ EX: The american turkey vulture and african hooded vulture were once in
the same Flacon Clade, but analysis showed the american turkey vulture
is actually more closely related to storks
● Comparisons of anatomical traits are not enough to provide a
clear answer
○ Modern evolutionary classification seeks to present all life on a singular
evolutionary tree.
■ All taxonomic ranks can be categorized into three general domains of life
● Domain Bacteria
● Domain Archaea
● Domain Eukarya
○ Domain Bacteria:
■ Unicellular prokaryotes
■ Possess cell walls made of peptidoglycan
■ Vary in diversity
● Can be free living, parasitic, or photosynthetic
● Aerobic or Anaerobic
■ All organisms within Kingdom Eubacteria fall within this domain
○ Domain Archaea:
■ Unicellular and prokaryotic
■ Extremophiles - live in extreme environments
● Hot springs, brine pools, and anoxic environments
■ Cell walls lack peptidoglycan
■ All organisms within Kingdom Archaebacteria fall in this domain
○ Domain Eukarya:
■ Consists of all organisms with a nucleus
■ Four kingdoms fall within Domain Eukarya
● Kingdom Protista
● Kingdom Fungi
● Kingdom Plantae
● Kingdom Animalia
○ Kingdom Protista:
■ (Mostly) Unicellular eukaryotes
■ Not a valid clade
■ Divided into several separate clades
■ Includes algae, animal-like protists, fungus-like protists, etc.
■ Can be autotrophic or heterotrophic
○ Kingdom Fungi:
■ Heterotrophs
■ Cell walls containing chitin
■ EX: Mushrooms, yeast, mold, etc.
■ Most obtain nutrients from decomposing organic matter
■ Symbiotic relationships with other organisms
○ Kingdom Plantae:
■ Photosynthetic autotrophs
■ Cell walls containing cellulose
■ Includes green algae, mosses, ferns, flowering plants, etc.
■ Can be unicellular or multicellular
○ Kingdom Animalia:
■ Multicellular heterotrophs
■ Do not possess cell walls
■ Most are motile
■ Incredibly diverse kingdom with Domain Eukarya
■ 9 major phyla of focus within Kingdom Animalia
○ A revised tree of life
■ All of life cannot be drawn out on a singular cladogram
■ We can draw a circular model of life that reflects genetic diversity and and
differences in biochemistry and cell structure
● Main Idea: We are constantly trying to find evolutionary
relationships among an incredibly diverse set of living organisms.