BIO 103
Summer 2024
TSHq
Lecture 2
Topic 1: Introduction to Biology
Take home points (Lecture 2)
What is classification
Early biological classification
Modern biological classification
Binomial nomenclature
The genus and species concept
Why use scientific names
The main classification groups (Taxa)
Various classification systems over time
Early Biological Classification
• How Earliest Humans classify living things
• Plant Vs Animals or Edible Vs Poisonous Plants or Harmful Vs Harmless animals
• 300 BC, Aristotle’s General Classification System
• Only about 1000 kinds of organisms were known
• This classification system survived almost 2000 years
By the beginning of the 18th century, over 10,000 kinds of organisms were known, and
Aristotle’s system was unable to classify them all A new system was obviously needed.
Why A New System Was Needed
Over two million (2,000,000) different kinds of organisms exist.
1.5 million (1,500,000) different kinds have been identified
It has been estimated that for each kind of organism now alive, another 400 kinds once lived but have
since become extinct.
One billion (1,000,000,000) different kinds of living things may have existed on the earth at one time or
another.
DIVERSITY: THE NUMBER OF KINDS OF LIVING THINGS.
Problems
1. How can we keep track of such a bewildering number of DIVERSE organisms?
2. How can we even name the organisms now alive when no known language has two million words
in it?
Modern Biological Classification
The Contribution of Carolus Linnaeus: He came up with solutions to the two problems:
1. A hierarchical classification system called TAXONOMY:
- CLASSIFICATION is the grouping of similar things for a specific purpose.
- In this case, the purpose is to study the diversity of living things.
- He grouped organisms according to their structural similarities
- Organisms with very similar structural features were considered to be the same species
- Thus all modern-day humans belong to one species, all house cats belong to one species, and all sugar maple trees
belong to one species.
- The system he came up with is called TAXONOMY.
- Taxonomy is the science that deals with the classification of organisms.
2. The system of BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE :
- This was the solution to problem 2 and helped to name all the different living things that ever existed
- This is a two part naming system which names all the organisms in Latin
Modern Basis for Classification
• Homologous Structure
• show the same basic pattern,
the same general relationship
to other parts, and the same
pattern of development.
• Similar Biochemistry
• closely related organisms form
similar chemical compounds in
their body.
• Genetic Similarity
• the greater the similarity of
DNA among organisms, the
more closely they may be
Different Classification Systems Used Over Time
1. 1700s: Carl Linnaeus: Introduced the 2 kingdom classification. Even though Antonie Van Leeuwonhoek
had already observed micro-organisms in the 1600s, these were not included: 2 KINGDOM SYSTEM
Animalia
Life
Vegetabile
2. 1800s: John Hogg and later, Ernest Hackel, introduced “Protsista” as a third kingdom. This included all
lower life-forms (ie: microorganisms): 3 KINGDOM SYSTEM
Animals
Life Plantae
Protista
3. 1930s: Edouard Chatton and Herbert F. Copeland observed the differences between cells with a nucleus (EUKARYOTES) and
cells without a nucleus (PROKARYOTES). Cells without a nucleus were all thought to be bacteria and were classified as a new
kingdom called ”Monera”: 2 EMPIRE OR 4 KINGDOM SYSTEM
Empire Kingdom
Prokaryota Monera
Life Protista
Eukaryota Plantae
Animalia
4. 1969: Robert Whittaker recognized that fungi were different from plants and introduced them as a new kingdom under
eukaryotes: 2 EMPIRE OR 5 KINGDOM SYSTEM
Prokaryota Monera
Protista
Life
Plantae
Eukaryota
Animalia
Fungi
5. 1977: Carl Woese proposed that the empire prokaryotes actually has two kinds of organisms: bacteria and
archaea. This was decided through RNA analysis rather than structural similarities. When the prokaryotes were
divided into two kingdoms, the idea was eventually modified to introduce a whole new system which introduced a
new level called “domains”. This was based on RNA analysis: PHYLOGENETIC OR 3 DOMAIN SYSTEM
Domain Kingdom
Bacteria Eubacteria
• No more “Kingdom Monera”
• No more “Empires”- now, domains are
Archaea Archaebacteria
used
• TWO DIFFERENT PROKARYOTIC
Protista
DOMAINS.
Life
• Based on the analysis of genetic material
Plantae
called RIBOSOMAL RNA (rRNA).
Eukaryota • This classifies all living things based on
Animalia
evolutionary relationships: Organisms
that evolved from the same ancestor are
Fungi
grouped in one category.
THE 6 KINGDOMS
2. ARCHAEBACTERIA 3. PROTISTA
1. EUBACTERIA
• Micro-organisms • Mostly unicellular, but some are
• Micro-organisms
• Unicellular organisms multicellular
• Unicellular organisms
• Prokaryotic: Cells have no nucleus • Eukaryotic: Cells have a nucleus
• Prokaryotic: Cells have no
• Genetically different from bacteria • Some are similar to plants and
nucleus
and more similar to eukaryotes some are similar to animals
• Example: Escherichia coli,
• Example: Pyrolobus fumarii, • Examples: Amoeba, algae,
Salmonella bongori
Methanobrevbacter smithii plasmodium
5. PLANTAE 6. ANIMALIA
4. FUNGI
• Multicellular • Multicellular
• Few are unicellular, most are • Eukaryotic: Cells have a nucleus
• Eukaryotic: Cells have a nucleus
multicellular • • No cell walls
Always have cell walls
• Eukaryotic: Cells have a nucleus • Examples: Cats, dogs, humans,
• Autotrophs: Always produce their
• Always have cell walls gorillas, salmon, woodpecker
own food
• Examples: Yeast, mushrooms
• Examples: Ferns, mosses, trees,
cactus
Dear: DOMAIN
Eukarya
King: KINGDOM
Animalia
Philip: PHYLUM Each of these 8
Chordata
groups are called a
TAXON (plural: Taxa)
Came: CLASS
Mammalia
Over: ORDER As we go down the
Primates taxa, the
For: FAMILY classifications
Pongidae become more
specific and the
Gorilla Good: GENUS number of organisms
sharing one taxon
catus sapiens gorilla Soup: SPECIES decreases
Genus and species concept
Homo sapiens
Genus Species
o Group of species that are similar. o Organisms that are
structurally very similar.
o Plural is ‘genera’.
o Plural is also ‘species’
oExample: Maple trees are from
genus Acer. So, o Interbreed under natural
oSugar maple: Acer saccharum condition to produce fertile
offspring (children) .
oSilver maple: Acer saccharinum
o Example:
oRed maple: Acer rubrum
Red maple: Acer rubrum
etc.
Binomial nomenclature
• After classifying, Linnaeus decided to name all the organism.
•Every organism’s name consists of
two words Binomial Nomenclature
•He decided to write all names in Latin.
•Example: Common name: Human
•Scientific name:
Homo sapiens (Italic if printed)
Homo sapiens (separate underlines if
handwritten)
Common name: Cat
Scientific name: Felis domesticus
Meet your human taxonomy
Meet your human taxonomy
Meet your human taxonomy
Meet your human taxonomy
How species change over time:
https://
[Link]/
en/simulations/
natural-selection
species
genus
Other Homo species that existed over time
-Homo habilis: Had long hands, first made tools -H. heidelbergensis: First hunted large animals and lived
-H. rudolfensis: Larger braincase, smaller size. Not much in colder places. Built shelters and fires.
known -H. floresiensis: Short, isolated species with smaller
-H. ergaster: African upright man. Early versions of H. brains. Also built tools.
erectus -H. neanderthalensis: Our closest relatives. Shelters,
-H. erectus: Stood upright, shorter arms, first cooked fires, clothes, tools. Had languages and rituals
with fire. Walked rather than climbed -H. sapiens: Only existing Homo species today
