Taxonomy & Biodiversity

• Species


  • An individual belonging to a group of organisms or the entire group itself
  • Have common characteristics
  • Capable of mating with one another to produce fertile offspring
• There are 13 billion known species of organisms (5% of all organisms that ever lived)
• Classification


  Arrangement of organisms into orderly groups based on their similarities / shared characteristics
• Taxonomy


  Study of the classification of living things
• Taxonomist


  A biologist who systematically identifies, classifies, and organizes species based on similarities in traits of organisms
• Binomial nomenclature


  • Genus and species
  • Latin or Greek
  • Italicized in print, underlined when writing
• Carolus Linnaeus


  • Father of modern taxonomy
  • Swedish naturalist and explorer who was the first to frame principles for defining and creating a uniform system for naming
  • Binomial nomenclature
  • Taxonomic system of classification
  • Taxonomic ranks
• Specific epithet / species


  Unique to the species within the genus
• Taxon


  A category into which related organisms are placed
• Taxonomic Ranks

  • Domain
  • Kingdom
  • Phylum
  • Class
  • Order
  • Family
  • Genus
  • Species
• The International Code for Binomial Nomenclature contains the rules for naming organisms
• All names must be approved by International Naming Congress (International Zoological Congress)
• Three Domains of Life

  • Eukaryota
  • Eubacteria
  • Archaea
• Eukaryota


  • Has a nucleus
• Eubacteria


  • Doesn't have a nucleus
• Archaea


  • One of the first organisms to appear
  • Only found in the harshest environments
• Robert Harding Whittaker


  • First to propose the five kingdom taxonomic classification of the world's biota into the Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, and Monera
• Biodiversity


  Variety of life that can be found on Earth and the communities that they form and the habitats in which they live
• Ecosystem Stability


  • Ability to resist change in the face of disturbances
  • Biodiversity promotes an ecosystem's stability
  • The probability of organisms to adapt and survive in a changing environment will be increased
• Keystone Species


  Species whose ecological niche (role) greatly affects many species in the ecosystem
• Invasive Species


  • Alien species
  • An organism that is not indigenous or native to a particular area
  • Species introduced in an area with no known predators and competition
  • Invasive species can cause great economic and environmental harm to the new area
• IUCN Red List


  • Critical indicator of the health of the world's biodiversity
  • More than 37,400 species are threatened with extinction (that is still 28% of all assessed species)
• IUCN Red List Categories

  • Extinct
  • Extinct in the Wild
  • Threatened
  • Vulnerable
  • Endangered
  • Critically Endangered