Classification And Courtship

• What is a species?

  A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
• Why does the species rule not apply to bacteria?

  They reproduce asexually through binary fission.
• Why does infertility occur when two different species breed?

  There is an odd number of chromosomes so gametes cannot be made.
• Why is the binomial naming system needed?

  It is universal so understood by all languages.
• How should binomial names be wrote?

  Upper case genus and lower case species name. In italics.
• What is taxonomy?

  How organisms are names and sorted into groups based on evolutionary history. It uses a hierachy where smaller groups are placed in larger ones. There are no overlaps.
• What is the order for organising organisms?

  Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
• What do phylogenetic trees show?

  The evolutionary relationship between species as all organisms evolve from a common ancestor.
• What is courtship?

  Behaviours that attract the same species for mating purposes.
• Why is courtship necessary?

  It helps organisms recognise members of their own species. It helps females identify a male that can breed. It helps to form a pair bond to synchronise mating so they can become able to breed.
• How can evolutionary relationships be clarified?

  Comparing genome sequencing of DNA base pairs. Comparing amino acid sequences in proteins. Comparing how these proteins interact as similar species proteins may work exactly the same.
• How is gene technology used in measuring genetic diversity?

  Different alleles have different base sequences so they can be compared to see how many alleles of that gene are in the population. Different alleles also produce slightly different mRNA base sequences with different amino acids that can be compared.
• What is an advantage of gene technology?

  It gives more accurate estimates of genetic diversity rather than those made by looking at the frequency of observable characteristics.
• Explain DNA Hybridisation

  DNA from 2 different species is collected and made into single strands these are mixed together to create hybrid. The more complementary the bases the more hydrogen bonds form. This means more heat energy is needed to break the strands apart. This indicates they are more closely related if a higher temperature is needed.