General Biology 212 Laboratory Session One

1
General Biology 212 Laboratory Session One

• Dealing with Biological Diversity

2
Purpose

• To develop an appreciation for the fundamentals
  of the classification of organisms and the
  methodology behind dichotomous keys

3
Background Information

• Why name things?
• Standardization for understanding
• Recognize individual species
• Identify patterns of relationships among species
• Increase our understanding of how relationships
  evolve
• Develop standard terminology to prevent confusion

4
Terminology

• Taxonomy
• Classification
• Systematics
• Biological species concept
• Reproductive isolation

5
Preliminary Concepts

• Carl Von Linne and Classification Schemes
• Classification according to morphology
• Established seven categories for classification
• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species

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Correct Use of Terminology

• Plurals of phylum, genus, species
• Use of super- and sub- prefixes
• When and when not to capitalize or italicize (or
  underline)
• Use of authority names with or without parentheses

7
Materials

• Pencil
• Eraser
• Stove Bolts
• 6 straight edge ruler with a millimeter scale

8
Classification Exercise

• Work in pairs
• Obtain a set of stove bolts
• Establish a classification scheme based on
  morphological similarities

9

• Using what you know about classification
  according to morphological similarities, develop
  a classification scheme for the butterfly species
  shown on your butterfly card.

10
Dichotomous Keys

• Use of dichotomous keys to establish a method for
  the identification of individual species
• Example of a dichotomous key and the use of
  contrasting statements (dichotomies) to identify
  species
• Identify species of stove bolts by developing a
  dichotomous key

11
Additional Concepts as Applied to Classification
and Dichotomous Keys

• Meristic characters
• Mensural traits
• Discontinuous Variation
• Continuous Variation