Question

Biology 2 week 1 lab: taxonomy

1. Record the binomial names for organisms i through xiii here. (Remember to italicize the binomial species name, capitalize the genus name, and begin the specific epithet with a lower case letter, such as: Homo sapiens.)

i.   Selasphorus Platycercus
ii.   Mus Musculus
iii.   Vaccinium Oxycoccos
iv.   Ramphasatos Vitellinus
v.   Quercus Alba
vi.   Euathlus Smithi
vii.   Helix Aspersa
viii.   Taeniopygia Guttata
ix.   Lonicera Japonica
x.   Carduelis Tristis
xi.   Orcytes Nasicornis
xii.   Dryocopus Pileatus
xiii.   Musa Acuminate

2. What do you notice about the options of each step as they go from number one up?

I believe the correct answer here is that the specificity of the kingdom increases as the go up from number one, but i’m Not entirely sure.

3. How does your answer from Question 2 relate to the Linnaean classification system?

Answer 1

1.

i.   Selasphorus platycercus
ii.   Mus musculus
iii.   Vaccinium oxycoccos
iv.   Ramphasatos vitellinus
v. Quercus alba
vi. Euathlus smithi
vii.   Helix aspersa
viii. Taeniopygia guttata
ix. Lonicera japonica
x.   Carduelis jristis
xi. Orcytes nasicornis
xii. Dryocopus pileatus
xiii.   Musa acuminate

2. I notice about the options of each step as they go from number one up that the given examples are belonging to Kingdom Plantae and Animalia. They are not members of the same Kingdom. For example, Vaccinium oxycoccos is a species of flowering plant in the heath family. Quercus alba, the white oak, is one of the preeminent hardwoods. The first number is representing the broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus), whereas the second number is representing a mammal and the fourth number is again representing the channel-billed toucan (Ramphastos vitellinus) is a near-passerine bird in the family. So, we can not say that the specificity of the kingdom increases as the go up from number one.

3. In the taxonomy of Linnaeus there are three kingdoms, divided into classes, and they, in turn, into orders, genera (singular: genus), and species (singular: species), with an additional rank lower than species.

The greatest innovation of Linnaeus, and still the most important aspect of this system, is the general use of binomial nomenclature, the combination of a genus name and a second term, which together uniquely identify each species of the organism within a kingdom. For example, the human species is uniquely identified within the animal kingdom by the name Homo sapiens. No other species of animal can have this same binomen (the technical term for a binomial in the case of animals). Prior to Linnaean taxonomy, animals were classified according to their mode of movement.