SYSTEMATICS

And
EVOLUTIONARY
RELATIONSHIPS
HOW DID THE
BIOLOGISTS
CLASSIFY THE
ORGANISMS?
 Biologists classify organisms into
different categories according to
similarities and differences of
organisms. It is presumed that the
high degree of similarities indicates
a closer biological relationship.
Finding Order in Nature
 People have classified the natural world for
thousands of years based on traits such as:
 edibility - “We can eat these plants, but
not these.”
 cultural meaning - “These animals are
sacred, these are evil.”
 utility - “These animals pull our plows,
those we shear for wool.”
Naturalistic Systematics
 Around the 18th century, naturalists
sought to classify nature in a way that
reflected nature, rather than the way
humans use nature.
 Of course, there was disagreement about
what constituted a “natural” system, or
even if a “natural” system was necessary.
Linnaeus • In 1735, Carl von Linnae
(“Linnaeus”) published Systema
Naturae, a new approach to
classifying nature that used nested
hierarchies. Today’s system is
grounded in this method.

• 1736: Linnaeus published a system of

binomial nomenclature, still in use
today.
There’s no • 1753: Linnaeus published Species
systematic
organization of Plantarum, describing and classifying
anything! I’m
going to fix that!
known organisms.
 2 Kingdom system
• Linnaeus divided all
living things into two
kingdoms: Plants and
Animals.

• Up until the 1960’s,

textbooks used the 2
Kingdom System to
describe the living
world.
 Moves, consumes food =
However... animal-like

• Linnaeus developed
his system at a time
when the microbial
world was a new
discovery. Am I a plant?
Am I an
animal?
• Many one-celled
organisms, such as
Euglena, don’t fit
well in a 2 Kingdom
system. Has chloroplasts,
photosynthesizes =
plant-like
 Another problem…
• What are some
other issues that
you can think of We both fly!

with a
Are we related?
classification
system that is
based on
appearance?
 Which pair of organisms is
genetically most similar?

B C
A
33% 33% 33%

1. A is most like B
2. B is most like C
3. A is most like C

1 2 3
 Analogous structures:
parts with seemingly comparable form
(on the outside) because they evolved to
perform the same function and not
because they were inherited from a
common ancestor

Homologous structures:
are body parts that may seem different on
the outside but can be proved the same by:
similarity of anatomical construction,
similar topographical relations to the animal
body, similar embryonic development and
similar physiological functions
Linnaeus and Classification
• Carolus Linnaeus designed our hierarchical classification
scheme.

• Kingdom

• Phylum

• Class

• Order

• Family

• Genus

• Species
Linnaeus and Classification
• All animals are placed in Kingdom
Animalia.
• Names of animal groups at each rank in
the hierarchy are called taxa (taxon).
• Each rank can be subdivided into
additional levels of taxa.
• Superclass, suborder, etc.
 Linnaeus and Classification
• Binomial nomenclature is the system
Linnaeus used for naming species.
• Genus and species
• Names are latinized and italicized,
only the genus is capatilized.
• Sitta carolinensis
Linnaeus and Classification
• A trinomial name
includes a
subspecies
epithet.
• Ensatina
escholtzii
escholtzii
• E. e. klauberi
Linnaeus’ system was considered “artificial,” based on observable
external features. However, it was so useful for identifying
organisms that most people preferred it over other systems, even
though some naturalists disagreed with Linnaeus’ approach - and
each other.

Hierarchical
classification is
fine, but it must
be natural.

Oui, mon professeur,

classification should be
natural, but a hierarchy is
not natural.
Buffon Cuvier
 Classifying by Common
Descent
That’s right! Lots of
• Darwin’s contribution, people think I was
the first to come up
the Theory of Natural with the idea of
Selection, suggested that Evolution, but my
theory was Natural
all living organisms are selection.
related by descent.

• If we can understand
patterns of descent, we
can design better nature-
based classification
systems.
Clues of evolutionary history and common ancestry

Clues: Unique & shared features

• Fossils
• Anatomy of extant species
• Genetic code
 Whittaker The outdated 2-
Kingdom
system has got
to go!

• Robert Whittaker, working

in the 1940s-70s, was
dissatisfied with the old 2-
But what is a
kingdom systems. better system
that really
reflects nature?
• Developed first a 3-
kingdom system (Fungi,
Plants, Animals) and later a
5-kingdom system.
• Whittaker’s system was still
essentially hierarchical -
with “lower” or “primitive”
organisms at the bottom.

• 3 Kingdom system - Plant,

Animal, Fungi - was based
on nutrition.

• However, Whittaker was

reaching for a system based
on phylogeny: evolutionary
ancestry.
 Whittaker The outdated 2-
Kingdom
system has got
to go!
• Proposed the five-
kingdom
classification in But what is a
1969 includes five better system
that really
kingdoms Monera, reflects nature?

Protista, Fungi,
Plantae and
Animalia.
Linnaeus and Classification
Domain:
Domains group organisms by fundamental
characteristics such as cell structure and
chemistry. For example, organisms in domain
Eukarya are separated from those in the Bacteria
and Archaea domains based on whether their
cells have a nucleus, the types of molecules
found in the cell wall and membrane, and how
they go about protein synthesis.
  More recently, a new
Domains taxonomic level has been
added above Kingdoms:
Domains.
 Living things are divided
into three non-hierarchical
Domains:
Domain
Domains
 Bacteria
Kingdoms
within  Archaea
Domain
Eukarya
 Eukarya
Peptidoglycan in cell
No peptidoglycan in cell
walls; 1 RNA
walls; 3 RNA
polymerase; react to Membrane-bound
polymerases; enzymes
antibiotics in a organelles; linear
similar to Eukaryotes;
different way than chromosomes; larger,
extremophiles.
Archaea do. more complex cells.

Prokaryotic Eukaryotic

Kingdoms within Bacteria and Archaea are as yet undecided.

Eukaryotic Kingdoms, too, may change.
 Kingdom
Kingdoms group organisms based on developmental
characteristics
and nutritional strategy. For example, organisms in the
animalkingdom (Animalia) are separated from those in the
plant kingdom(Plantae) because of differences in the early
development of these organisms and the fact that plants
make their own food by photosynthesis whereas animals
ingest their food. (Kingdoms are most useful in domain
Eukarya because they’re not well defined for the
prokaryotic
domains.)
 Kingdom
Kingdom Monera

It is considered as the most primitive group of

organisms and monerans are most abundant of
all. It generally comprises unicellular
organisms with a prokaryotic cell organization
and lack of well-defined cell structures
including the nucleus and other cell organelles.
Cyanobacteria, archaebacteria, mycoplasma,
and bacteria are a few members of this
kingdom.
 Kingdom
Kingdom Monera

•Monerans are present in both aerobic and anaerobic

environment.

•Some have rigid cell walls, while some do not.

•The membrane-bound nucleus is absent in monerans.

•Habitat – Monerans are found everywhere in hot or thermal

springs, in the deep ocean floor, under ice, in deserts and also
inside the body of plants and animals.
 Kingdom
Kingdom Monera
•They can be autotrophic, they can synthesize food on their own while
some others have a heterotrophic, saprophytic, parasitic, symbiotic,
commensalistic and mutualistic as modes of nutrition.

•Locomotion is with the help of flagella.

•Circulation is through diffusion.

•Respiration in these organisms vary, few are obligate aerobes, while

some are obligate anaerobes and facultative anaerobes.

•Reproduction is mostly asexual, and few also reproduce by sexual

reproduction. Sexual reproduction is by conjugation, transformation,
and transduction. Asexual reproduction is by binary fission.
Kingdom
 Kingdom
Kingdom Protista

Protists are all unicellular eukaryotic

organisms. This kingdom forms a link
between other kingdoms of fungi, plants,
and animals. Many species of this
kingdom are the primary producers in the
aquatic ecosystem, and some are
responsible for serious human diseases
like malaria.
 Kingdom
Kingdom Protista
•They are simple, unicellular, eukaryotic organisms.

•Most of the protists live in water, some in moist soil

or even the body of human and plants.
•These organisms have a membrane-bound nucleus,
endomembrane systems, mitochondria for cellular
respiration and some have chloroplasts for
photosynthesis.
•Nuclei contain multiple DNA strands, and the
number of nucleotides is significantly less.
 Kingdom
Kingdom Protista
•Respiration – cellular respiration is the primarily aerobic
process, but some living in the moist soil underneath ponds
or in digestive tracts of animals are facultative anaerobes.

•Locomotion is often by flagella or cilia.

•Nutrition- include both heterotrophic and autotrophic.

•Reproduction – Some reproduce sexually and others

asexually.

•Some protists are pathogens of both plants and animals.

Example: Plasmodium falciparum causes malaria in humans.
 Kingdom
Kingdom Protista
 Kingdom
Kingdom FUNGI
Fungi are a group of organisms that
are found everywhere from air,
water, land to the soil. They are also
found in plants and animals. Some
fungi are microscopic and appear
like plants, they are in fact closely
related to animals.
 Kingdom
Kingdom FUNGI
1. Fungi are eukaryotic, non-
vascular and non-motile organisms.
2. The growth rate of fungi is
slower than that of bacteria.
3. Fungi grow best in an acidic
environment.
 Kingdom
Kingdom FUNGI
4. The Kingdom Fungi consist of
both unicellular (e.g., yeast, molds)
and multicellular (e.g., mushrooms)
organisms.
5. Like plant cells, fungi have cell
walls made up of complex sugar
molecules called chitin.
 Kingdom
Kingdom FUNGI
6. The cell wall is composed of chitin. The vegetative body
of the fungi may be unicellular or composed of microscopic
threads called hyphae.
7. They have a heterotrophic mode of nutrition. Few species
are saprophytes i.e., they feed on dead and decaying organic
matters.
8.Some fungi are parasitic while some are symbionts. They can
live in a symbiotic relationship with algae, like blue-green
algae. These are called lichens.
9.Reproduction in fungi is both by sexual and asexual means.
Asexual reproduction takes place by means of spores and
sexual reproduction takes place by means of gametic
copulation, somatic copulation, and Spermatization.
Kingdom
 Kingdom
Kingdom PLANTAE

Plants are autotrophs, they produce their

own food. They are primary producers in
many ecosystems, giving them a vital role in
the survival of many other organisms. The
production of oxygen as a by-product of
photosynthesis support life processes of
other organisms.
 Kingdom
Kingdom PLANTAE
1. Plants are multicellular organisms with eukaryotic
cells.
2. Plant cells are distinguished by their cell walls
containing cellulose, chloroplasts that perform
photosynthesis, and a large central vacuole that holds
water and keeps the plant turgid.
3. Many plants have vascular tissue, such as xylem and
phloem that carries water and nutrients throughout the
plant.
4. Plants reproduce both sexually and asexually and
have what is known as alternation of generations.
Kingdom
Kingdom
 Kingdom
Kingdom ANIMALIA
The animal kingdom is the largest kingdom
amongst the five kingdoms consisting of all
animals. Animals are multicellular
eukaryotes and heterotrophic. Besides these
similarities, they are also related to their cell
arrangement, body symmetry, and level of
organization, coelom, and presence/absence
of notochord.
 Kingdom
Kingdom ANIMALIA
1. Higher levels of organization which allow animals to
perform many complex functions.
2. Animals can detect environmental stimuli, such as light,
sound, and touch. Stimuli are detected by sensory nerve cells.
The information is transmitted and processed by the nervous
system. The nervous system, in turn, may direct the body to
respond.
3. All animals can move. Muscles and nerves work together
to allow movement. Being able to move lets animals actively
search for food and mates. It also helps them escape from
predators.
4. Animals have internal digestion of food. Animals
consume other organisms and may use special tissues and
organs to digest them.
Kingdom
Linnaeus and Classification
Phylum:
Phyla separate organisms based on key
characteristics that
define the major groups within the kingdom.
For example, within kingdom
Plantae, flowering plants (Angiophyta) are in a
different phylum
than cone-bearing plants (Coniferophyta).
Linnaeus and Classification
Class:
Classes separate organisms based on key
characteristics that
define the major groups within the phylum.
For example, within
phylum Angiophyta, plants that have two seed
leaves (dicots, class
Magnoliopsida) are in a separate class than
plants with one seed leaf
(monocots, class Liliopsida).
Linnaeus and Classification
Order:
Orders separate organisms based on key
characteristics that
define the major groups within the class. For
example, within class Magnoliopsida, nutmeg
plants (Magnoliales) are put in a different
order than black pepper plants (Piperales) due
to differences in their flower and pollen
structure.
 Linnaeus and Classification
Genus:
Genera separate organisms based on key
characteristics that
define the major groups within the family. For
example, within family
Rosaceae, roses (Rosa) are in a different genus
than cherries (Prunus)
thanks to differences in their flower structure.
Linnaeus and Classification
Species:
Species separate eukaryotic organisms based
on whether they
can successfully reproduce with each other.
You can walk through a
rose garden and see many different colors of
China roses (Rosa chinensis)
that are all considered one species because
they can reproduce with
each other.
 Species
• Defining a species can be difficult.
• Criteria:
• Common descent
• The smallest distinct groupings of
organisms sharing a pattern of descent.
• Morphological & molecular techniques
• Members of a species must form a
reproductive community that excludes
other species.
• The geographicSpeciesrange of a species
is its distribution in space.
• Evolutionary duration of a species
is its distribution in time.
• A worldwide species is
cosmopolitan.
• One with a very localized range is
called endemic.
Linnaeus and
Classification
 SPECIES
DIVERSITY AND
CLADISTICS
Have you ever wondered
how you knew that both
Aspin (Asong Pinoy) and
Labrador are dogs even
though they are different
in breeds?
 What makes a sea fish
and a bangus to be both
classified as fishes even if
they live in two different
types of habitat?
Classifying Organisms
 Systematists develop classifications
based on evolutionary relationships.
They tend to look at:
 anatomy - a traditional method.
 molecular data - to examine genetic
similarities and differences.
Anatomy

•Anatomical comparisons help

identify organisms and can Both microscopic and macroscopic
suggest relationships. Anatomy features may be important.
can be see in fossils as well as
modern organisms.

•Drawback: Analogous traits in

unrelated organisms can be
misleading.
Molecular
•DNA analysis can
determine how closely two
populations are related and
show what genes are shared.
•Drawback: Requires
intensive, often expensive
lab work; difficult for field
workers. Rare to find DNA
in fossils.
Which of these is a good phylogenetic definition of
what a species is?
1. A population of organisms
whose members look alike. 86%
2. The smallest
distinguishable group that
contains all the descendants
of a single common
ancestor
3. A group of organisms living
in the same place and using
the same sources of food.
6% 8%

1 2 3
• When evolutionary biologists say, “Humans W
and chimpanzees share a common ancestor,” O
R
which of these do they mean?
K
• Chimpanzees stopped evolving long ago,
T
but humans continued to evolve. O
G
• Humans came from chimpanzees. E
T
• Both humans and chimpanzees descend H
from an extinct primate that lived several E
million years ago. R
CLADISTICS
 Cladograms are diagrams which depict the
relationships between different groups of
taxa called “clades”.
 Cladograms can also be called
“phylogenies” or “trees”.
 Cladograms are constructed by grouping
organisms together based on their shared
derived characteristics.
Constructing Trees
 Systematists compare as many
features as possible when constructing
phylogenetic trees.
 Computers are often used to compare
relatedness between different species.
 New data or new understanding of
data may change the trees.
 Less derived More derived
present

Each line
represents
a species.

time
Forks
represent
speciation
events.

Figure 16-11a Biology: Life on Earth 8/e ©2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Inc.
past
 DNA sequences are often used in constructing phylogenetic
trees. Ancestral DNA may be inferred from living species. In
rare instances, DNA may be recovered from fossils.
STEPS in Constructing Trees
1. First, you need to make a
"characteristics chart" the helps you
analyze which characteristics each
species has. Fill in a "x" for yes it has the
trait and "o" for "no" for each of the
organisms below.
STEPS in Constructing Trees
Then you count how many times you
wrote yes for each characteristic. Those
characteristics with a large number of
"yeses" are more ancestral characteristics
because they are shared by many. Those
traits with fewer yeses, are shared
derived characters, or derived characters
and have evolved later.
 STEPS in Constructing Trees
Characters Shark Bullfrog Kangaroo Human

Vertebrae X X X X

Two pairs of limbs 0 X X X

Mammary 0 0 X X
glands

Placenta 0 0 0 X

Total YES 1 2 3 4
STEPS in Constructing Trees
II. Draw a Venn diagram. Start with the character that is
shared by all the taxa on the outside. Inside each box, write
the taxa that have only that set of characters.
STEPS in Constructing Trees
III. Convert the Venn diagram into a cladogram. The traits
are written on the main line, and species go on the branches.
On the cladogram below, try to put all the characters and the
species in the correct evolutionary history.
Systematists try to identify groups that are monophyletic:
modern species that all appear to have descended from one
common ancestor.
 Plants, Animals, and Fungi form distinct groups on the
Eukaryotic branch of the phylogenetic tree.

“Kingdom Protista” turns out to be polyphyletic. This group

may end up being divided into several Kingdoms.
 Not only can we find
evolutionary relationships
between organisms, we can
also find relationships
between the diseases that
affect them. This tree shows
relationships between
AIDS-causing viruses in
humans and several modern
primates, which helps us
understand the host-jumping
disease itself.
Recap
 Modern Systematics seeks to classify
organisms according to evolutionary
relationships.
 Anatomical and molecular data are used
to infer relatedness between modern
organisms.
 Data from fossil evidence is also used to
build phylogenetic trees.
 CREATE YOUR OWN CLADOGRAM
  Cells Legs Antenna Wings 2 sets of wings

Worm          

Spider          

Carpenter Ant          

House fly          

Dragonfly          
 ANSWER THE FOLLOWING GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. According to your cladogram, which two species are more
closely related: worms and spiders or worms and ants? How
do you know?
2. According to your cladogram, what species are dragonflies
most closely related to? How do you know?
3. In a different colored writing utensil, add a June Bug to
your cladogram based on its characteristics.

