| A | B |
|---|
| a binomial system | Biologists use this system for classifying organisms; : today each species’ official scientific name is made of 2 words (bi=“2” nomen=“name”) |
| taxonomy | the science of classifying and naming organisms |
| Carolus Linnaeus | century biologist) developed a system of classification that is the basis of what is used today |
| species | basic unit of classification or taxonomy |
| genus | a group of closely related species |
| binomial name | together the genus and specific epithet names make up the |
| Family | A group of related genera make up a |
| Order | Related families make up an |
| Class | Related orders are grouped into a |
| Phylum or Division | Related classes are grouped into |
| Kingdom | Related phyla or divisions are grouped into a |
| Domain | Related kingdoms are grouped into a, the highest level of classification in the modern system. |
| biological species concept | for sexual organisms) – one or more populations whose members are capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring, and whose members are reproductively isolated from other such groups |
| evolutionary species concept | a single line of descent (lineage) that maintains its distinctive identity from other lineages; works for all species, but it can be hard to clearly define “distinctive identity” |
| phylogeny | evolutionary tree; explanation of evolutionary relationships among groups (what evolved from what, in what order, and when) |
| systematics | study and reconstruction of phylogenies |
| monophyletic | includes most recent common ancestor and all descendants |
| paraphyletic | includes most recent common ancestor BUT not all descendants |
| polyphyletic | (does not include most recent common ancestor |
| cladistics | groups organisms on the basis of unique shared characters inherited from common ancestor, or derived character |
| clade | group of organisms related by descent |
| synapomorphy | a derived character that is unique to and thus defines a particular clade |
| cladogram | branching diagram based on cladistic analysis that represents a phylogeny |
| outgroup | organism that is different from all others in the cladogram (but not too different); it is expected to have split with the others from a common ancestor before any of the rest (the ingroup) split from each other |
| parsimonious | the one that requires the simplest explanation |
| traditional taxonomy weighs characters | according to presumed biological or evolutionary significance |
