Module
16
Lesson 2
Modern Classification
Incorporating ESLRs
Right Thought
Critically evaluate significant concepts
within a given situation.
Apply problem solving skills in real life
situations.
Objectives
• Differentiate between taxonomy and
systematics.
• Summarize the different concepts of a
species.
• Analyze large differences in DNA sequences
that separate species.
• Describe some methods to determine
phylogeny.
Essential Questions
• What are the similarities and
differences between species concepts?
• What are the methods used to reveal
phylogeny?
• How is a cladogram constructed?
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Vocabulary
Review New
• evolution • phylogeny
• character
• molecular clock
• cladistics
• cladogram
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Determining Species
• It is not always easy to define a species.
• Organisms that are different species by one
definition might be the same species by a
different definition.
• The concept of what determines a species has
changed through time.
• As knowledge increases, definitions change.
• The concept of a species today is much
different than it was 100 years ago.
Determining Species
Typological Species Concept
• Aristotle and Linnaeus thought of each species
as a distinctly different group of organisms
based on physical similarities.
• This typological species concept is based on
the idea that species are unchanging, distinct,
and natural types.
• The patterns on the butterflies’ wings are
slightly different. At one point, they might
have been classified as different species. They
are now classified as
the same species.
Determining Species
Biological Species Concept
• The biological species concept defines a
species as a group of organisms that is able to
interbreed and produce fertile offspring in a
natural setting.
• It does not account for extinct species or
species that reproduce asexually. Also, some
species, such as wolves and dogs, are known
to interbred.
• This is the species concept used throughout
this unit.
Determining Species
Phylogenetic Species Concept
• Phylogeny is the evolutionary history of a
species.
• The phylogenetic species concept defines a
species as a cluster of organisms that is
distinct from other clusters and shows
evidence of a pattern of ancestry and
descent.
• This definition solves some of the problems of
earlier concepts because it applies to extinct
species and species that reproduce asexually.
• It also incorporates molecular data.
Characters
• To classify a species, scientists construct
patterns of descent by using characters –
inherited features that vary among
species.
• Characters can be morphological or
biochemical.
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Characters
Morphological characters
• Shared morphological characters suggest that
species are related closely and evolved from a
recent common ancestor.
• Birds and dinosaurs:
• Modern birds may not look closely related
to dinosaurs.
• Both birds and dinosaurs have hollow
bones.
• Theropods have hip, leg, wrist, and
shoulder structures more similar to birds
than living reptiles.
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Characters
Biochemical characters
• Scientists use biochemical characters, such as amino acids and nucleotides, to
help them determine evolutionary relationships among species.
• DNA and RNA analyses are powerful tools for reconstructing phylogenies.
similar appearance of a
chromosome-banding
pattern in three primates.
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Characters
Biochemical characters
• A molecular clock is a model that is used to
estimate the amount of time it has taken for
species to evolve from a common ancestor.
• Scientists use molecular clocks to compare
DNA sequences between species – the more
mutations present, the more time has passed.
• The rate of mutation is affected by many
factors, making molecular clocks difficult to
read.
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Phylogenetic Reconstruction
Character types
• Cladistics classifies organisms based on the order that they
diverged from a common ancestor.
• Scientists consider two main types of characters when doing
cladistic analyses:
• Ancestral characters are found within the entire line of
descent of a group of organisms.
• Derived characters are only found after a split from the
descendent line.
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Phylogenetic Reconstruction
Cladograms
• A cladogram is a branching diagram that represents a proposed phylogeny of a
species or group.
• One branch of a cladogram is called a clade.
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Phylogenetic Reconstruction
Cladograms
• To construct a cladogram, groups of
interest need to be compared to an
outgroup, which has more ancestral
characteristics.
• The cladogram is constructed by
sequencing the order in which derived
characters evolved with respect to the
outgroup.
• The more derived characteristics two
groups share, the more recently the
groups shared a common ancestor.
[Link]
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1= HAS THE TRAIT, 0=DOESN’T HAVE THE TRAIT
TISSUES ONE-WAY COELOM JOINTED LEGS MULTICELLULR METAMORPHOSIS
DIGESTIVE
TRACT
EARTHWORM 1 1 1 0 1 0
ROUNDWORM 1 1 0 0 1 0
SPONGE 0 0 0 0 1 0
BUTTERFLY 1 1 1 1 1 1
FLATWORM 1 0 0 0 1 0
SPIDER 1 1 1 1 1 0
Phylogenetic Reconstruction
The tree of life
• A phylogenetic tree is a form of cladogram in which each
node with descendants represents a common ancestor.
• Ernest Haeckel used an analogy of a tree to suggest that all
species developed from one or a few species.
• He imagined a tree with a trunk representing ancestral
groups. The tree’s branches showed species. Similar species
were listed on nearby branches
• A complete and accurate tree of life would benefit
researchers in industry, agriculture, medicine, and
conservation.
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Quiz
1. What does this figure represent?
A molecular clock CORRECT
B cladogram
C pedigree
D phylogenetic tree
Quiz
2. What do the colored bands
in the figure represent?
A ancestral characters
B genomes
C mutations CORRECT
D derived characters
Quiz
3. Which species concept defines a species as a
group of organisms that are able to reproduce
successfully in the wild?
A evolutionary species C typological species
concept concept
B phylogenetic species D biological species
concept concept
CORRECT
Quiz
4. Which is represented by the
figure?
A molecular clock
B pedigree
C cladogram
CORRECT
D character