Animal Systematics

Classification of Animals
- Animals belong to Domain Eukarya
- Group with fungi as Opisthokonts
- Unicellular = Protozoan
- Multicellular = Metazoan

Warm-blooded Cold-blooded

Warm-blooded animals are defined as animals
that can regulate and maintain constant internal
body temperature. They can survive in any
temperature range as they can adapt to it
easily. Mammals are the best examples of
warm-blooded animals.
Cannot regulate their internal body
temperature with the change in the
environment. They cannot survive in extreme
temperature conditions. Examples of
cold-blooded animals are reptiles, fish, etc.

Biological Systematics
- Deals with the diversity, relationships, and evolutionary history of organisms existing on
Earth
- Encompasses taxonomy, phylogenetics, and evolution.
Taxonomy - the science of describing, identifying, naming, and classifying organisms
Phylogenetics - a science that deals with the evolutionary relationships of organisms
Evolution - deals with the variability of organisms throughout time and space

Taxonomic ranks = hierarchy of life

 Eukarya (Domain)
Animalia (Kingdom)
Chordata (Phylum)
Mammalia (Class)
Carnivora (Order)
Canidae (Family)
Canis (Genus)
(Species)

Mnemonic:
Did King Philip Come Over For Great Soup?

Binomial Nomenclature
- A species is also a scientific name comprising of two names
Genus + specific epithet (ex. Homo Sapiens)
- Italicized when written
- Underlined when handwritten
- When handwritten, separate underlines for genus and epithet
- If unidentifiable up to the species level, “sp.” can be used (ex. Felis sp.)
- “sp.” should not be italicized nor underlined

Cladogram
- A representation of the phylogeny of different organisms, simply, an evolutionary tree
- About the hypothesis of how species are currently being defined
- Exhibits relationships between organisms
- Branching or forking pattern
- Common points in the branches are called nodes
- Nodes = common ancestors
Monophyly - the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a
common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants.

An example of a monophyletic cladogram: (note that all species in the cladogram are
Trimeresurus “T.”)

An example of a non-monophyletic cladogram: (note the two species with “G.”)

- Non-monophyly is exhibited if a group should include a common ancestor, but not all its
descendants
- In systematics, non-monophyletic groups are not recognized as natural
 - Character states could also be mapped
- Exhibits evolution of features within taxa or groups of taxa
- States are either derived (apomorphy) or ancestral/primitive

The apomorphy for the lineages of Alpha, Beta and Gamma are “Four appendages”; an
apomorphy for the entire group
“Skull crest” as the apomorphy of both Beta and Gamma
Lastly, for Gamma, the evolution of “Two appendages” that are exclusive for that taxon
“Four appendages” is a primitive state for Gamma, and the derived state is having “Two
appendages”

Dichotomous Key
- A taxonomic tool for rapid species identification
- Comprises of couplets with two contrasting leads
- Dichotomous keys are comprised of a series of choices that will eventually, by each
decision made based on the features found on the specimen, will lead to the
identification of the unknown specimen