CONCEPT AND USE OF CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

• Organisms can be classified into groups by the features they share.

• Classification system aims to reflect evolutionary relationships

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Mnemonic for Classification:
Keep Ponds Clean Or Frogs Get Sick
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Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species

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 • Species: It is a group of organisms that can reproduce to produce
a fertile offspring.
• Binomial system of naming species: It is an internationally agreed
system in which the scientific name of an organism is made up of two
parts showing the genus and the species.
• Sequence of bases in DNA are used as a means of classification.
• Group of organisms that share a more recent ancestor (are more
closely related) have base sequences in DNA that are more

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similar than those that share only a distant ancestor.

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BINOMIAL SYSTEM OF NAMING ORGANISMS

RULES for SCIENTIFIC NAMES

The entire two-part name must be written in italics (or underlined when
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handwritten).
• The generic name (genus ) is always written first.

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• The genus name must be capitalized.
• The specific epithet ( species name ) is never capitalized.

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Examples:
Common name Scientific ( Generic ) name

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Modern humans Homo sapiens
Arabian camel Camelus dromedarius

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African elephant Loxodonta africana

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Albatross Diomedeidae
Alpaca Lama pacos
Asian Elephant
Blackbuck
Elephas maximus
Antelope cervicapra
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Note: All scientific names have been derived from Latin
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ADVANTAGES OG USING SCIENTIFIC NAMES:
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▪ It allows for the identification and comparison of organisms based on

recognised characteristics
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▪ It allows all organisms to be named according to a globally recognised

scheme
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▪ It can show how closely related organisms are, allowing for the
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prediction of evolutionary links

▪ It makes it easier to collect, sort and group information about
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organisms
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 DICHOTOMOUS KEYS
1.A dichotomous key is a tool that allows the user to determine the identity of
objects and organisms
2.Dichotomous keys offer a number of choices that lead the user to the correct
name object or organism.

Following are examples of dichotomous keys from IGCSE Past papers for Biology
0610

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ANALYSING QUESTION Q1

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In the above example, there are 4 options for the identity of the organism. Since
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the ears are not rounded, so we need to proceed to the option 2. Since there are
no spots on the body, the organisms is not B. So we go to option 3. As we can see
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that the tail is not straight, so but obviously, it is organism D with a curly tail.
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It is also to be noted that such kind of questions sometimes need the knowledge
of various concepts and thus such dichotomous keys can be based on concepts
from any part of the syllabus.

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YOU MAY TRY TO SOLVE THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE. NOTE THAT THE
ANSWERS ARE ALREADY MENTIONED BELOW THE QUESTIONS. YOU NEED TO
GIVE YOUR LOGICAL EXPLANATIONS. IF YOU CAN GIVE PROPER LOGICAL
EXPLANATIONS MEANS THAT YOUR CONCEPTS ARE CLEAR.

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Ms-2 A
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Ms-3 C

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4

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 MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

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Ms-1 C

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Ms-2 A
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Ms-3 B

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MORE MCQ'S FOR PRACTISE:

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 EXTENDED THEORY
Fig. 4.1 shows three species of zebra.

Equus burchelli

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Equus grevyi
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vertical stripe

horizontal stripe
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Equus zebra
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Fig. 4.1

(a) Describe one method a scientist could use to show that the zebras shown in Fig. 4.1
are different species.

[1]

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MARK SCHEME:

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 EXTENDED THEORY

( a) Myriapods can be classified into four classes, 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Fig. 1.2 is a dichotomous key that can be used to distinguish the four classes of myriapods.

myriapods

no eyes eyes present

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hairs on most no hairs on one leg on two legs on
body segments body segments each side of each each side of each

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body segment body segment

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class 1 class 2 class 3 class 4

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Fig. 1.2
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 species J

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species K

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species L

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species M

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species N
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species O
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not to scale

Fig. 1.3
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Complete Table 1.1 by using the key in Fig. 1.2 to classify the six myriapods in Fig. 1.3 into
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the four classes.

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Table 1.1
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letter(s) of species from

class
Fig. 1.3 in each class
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1
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[3]

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 (b) Fig. 1.4 is a photograph of the myriapod, Apheloria virginiensis.

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5 cm

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Fig. 1.4

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(i) State the genus name and kingdom name for the myriapod shown in Fig. 1.4.

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genus ................................................................................................................................

kingdom .............................................................................................................................
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[2]

MARK SCHEME:
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