Classification

• What is the focus of the lesson on species and taxonomy?

  How organisms are classified and courtship behaviour
• Why is it important to classify organisms?

  To organize and avoid confusion among species
• What is the estimated number of species on Earth?

  10 million to 100 million
• What defines a species according to the lesson?

  Members can reproduce to produce fertile offspring
• Why are ligers, mules, and zorses considered infertile?

  They lack viable sex cells due to mismatched chromosomes
• What are observable characteristics used to define a species?

  Similarities and differences to other species
• How do species evolve over time?

  They change and develop into new species
• What is the theory and practice of biological classification called?

  Taxonomy
• What is artificial classification based on?

  Differences useful at the time, like size or color
• What are analogous characteristics?

  Similar functions but different evolutionary origins
• What does phylogenetic classification focus on?

  Evolutionary differences and shared features
• What are homologous characteristics?

  Similar evolutionary origins regardless of function
• What is a taxon?

  A group within a biological classification
• What is the largest group in biological classification?

  Kingdom
• What does the binomial system of naming species help avoid?

  Confusion from similar names across species
• Who developed the binomial naming system?

  Carl Linnaeus
• What does the first name in binomial nomenclature represent?

  The genus of the organism
• How are species names formatted in writing?

  Italicized or underlined with genus capitalized
• What is the nearest common ancestor of the lion and tiger?

  Felidae family
• What did Carl Woese study?

  The evolutionary relationships of prokaryotes
• What did Carl Woese pioneer in his research?

  RNA sequencing in bacteria
• What does the three domain theory propose?

  Classification of life into three domains
• What are the three domains proposed by Woese?

  Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryota
• What is a characteristic of Eukaryota?

  Have membrane-bound organelles
• What is a characteristic of Archaea?

  Cell membranes contain ether bonds
• What is a characteristic of Bacteria?

  Cell walls made of murein
• What do classifications suggest about evolutionary relationships?

  They indicate how species are related evolutionarily
• What is the taxon that scientists disagree on for a snake species?

  Genus
• What is the hierarchical order of taxa?

  Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
• What is the role of courtship behaviour in species?

  It indicates good genes for reproductive success
• How does artificial selection affect species variation?

  It leads to a variety of different breeds
• What is the significance of phylogenetic trees?

  They clarify relationships between organisms
• What is the main idea of the lesson on biodiversity?

  Tracking and classifying species is important
• What is the importance of maintaining biodiversity?

  It supports ecosystem stability and resilience
• What is the relationship between natural selection and courtship behaviour?

  Courtship behaviour shows good genes for selection
• What is the role of classification in biology?

  To organize living organisms into groups
• What challenges exist in defining a species?

  Species can change, vary, and may not interbreed
• What is the significance of the binomial system in taxonomy?

  It provides a universal naming convention
• How does the classification system reflect evolutionary relationships?

  It organizes species based on their ancestry
• What is the importance of studying phylogenetic trees?

  They help understand evolutionary relationships