SYSTEMATICS AND TAXONOMY

BIL 161
 TAXONOMY & SYSTEMATICS

Taxonomy
is the science of naming and classifying organisms into a
nested hierarchy of groups called taxa (singular = taxon).

Systematics
is the study of evolutionary relationships among
organisms, both extant and extinct.
 BIODIVERSITY
An important step towards understanding the diversity of life
around us is to

CLASSIFY IT
 TAXONOMY & SYSTEMATICS
Today you will learn how to use and create a

• Taxonomic Key – a tool used to identify

unknown organisms in your possession

• Phylogenetic Tree – a diagramatic

representation of the evolutionary history of a
group of related organisms
 TAXONOMY

• A taxon is a group organisms forming a

related unit.

• In modern systematics, taxa are

constructed on the basis of recency of
descent from common ancestor.
 TAXONOMY

Biological nomenclature is the

application of names to
organisms recognized as part of a
particular taxon.
 TAXONOMY

Taxa are organized in a nested hierarchy of

taxonomic ranks, from largest (most
inclusive) to smallest (least inclusive).
 THREE ASPECTS OF A
TAXON
1. The taxon’s name
• Mammalia
• Chordata
• Fungi
• Homo sapiens
• Rodentia

The taxon’s name has no real biological significance.

It is a tool we use to group similar things.
It serves the same functions as names like “hats” or
“flying monkeys”.
 THREE ASPECTS OF A TAXON
2. The taxon’s rank
• Domain (rank) – Eukarya (name)
• Kingdom (rank) – Animalia (name)
• Phylum (rank) – Chordata (name)
• Class (rank) – Mammalia (name)
• Order (rank) – Primates (name)
• Family (rank) – Hominidae (name)
• Genus (rank) – Homo (name)
• Species (rank) – sapiens (name)

Every species is nested in a sequentially more

inclusive set of taxonomic ranks, as shown above for
our own species.
 THREE ASPECTS OF A TAXON
3. The taxon’s content
• All members of this lab class are in the taxon
Homo sapiens
• All domestic dogs are included in the taxon
Canis familiaris

• The taxon Chordata includes all animals with

• dorsal, hollow nerve tube
• notochord
• tail posterior to the anus
• pharyngeal gill slits
 THE TAXONOMIC KEY
A taxonomic key is
• a tool for identifying unknown
organisms
• organized in dichotomous (two-
way) choices
 A TAXONOMIC KEY: EXAMPLE
You have four birds.
• One is yellow with a crest of feathers
• One is black with a crest of feathers
• One is blue with red legs
• One is blue with yellow legs

Your first dichotomy could be:

1a. Feathers are blue……………………go to 2

1b. Feathers are not blue……………….go to 3
 A TAXONOMIC KEY:
EXAMPLE
Next dichotomies:
2a. Legs are yellow………….…….Phoenecius azuli
2b. Legs are red…………….….Phoenecius erythris

3a. Feathers are black……..Phoenecius obscurus

3b. Feathers are yellow.……..Phoeneceius aureus

By taking each bird through the dichotomous key,

you should be able to identify it to its unique
scientific name.
 TAXONOMIC KEY:
IDENTIFYING PASTA
You will be using a taxonomic key to identify
“species” of pasta from a key in your lab manual.
 THE TAXONOMIC KEY
Be careful when you examine your pasta.
Be sure you know its anatomy.
• What’s the skin?
• What’s the body?
• What’s the shape?

Misidentifying a character/trait can lead to

misidentification of your organism.
 THE TAXONOMIC KEY
You will then create a taxonomic key that will
allow your colleagues to identify various “species”
of imaginary creatures called Caminalcules.
 PHYLOGENETIC SYSTEMATICS
Phylogenetic systematics (Cladistics)
is the biological discipline in which
evolutionary history and patterns of
relationships among organisms are studied
and reconstructed.
 PHYLOGENETIC
SYSTEMATICS
Data can come from various sources
• Morphology
• Ontogeny (embryo development)
• Macromolecule sequencing
• DNA
• RNA
• protein
 CONSTRUCTING PHYLOGENIES

A biological species is
a group of similar organisms that can interbreed
under natural conditions to produce fertile, viable
offspring.
 CONSTRUCTING PHYLOGENIES

The species is the only taxonomic rank with

biological significance.
•A “species” can be difficult to define

•Not everyone agrees on species definition.

Over evolutionary time, an ancestral species can

diverge to give rise to descendant species.
 CONSTRUCTING
PHYLOGENIES
A systematist uses various
traits/characters) to establish
evolutionary relationships.
• Morphological
• Ontogenetic
• Molecular
 CONSTRUCTING
PHYLOGENIES

The quality (state) of a

character can provide
information about how recently
two taxa split from a common
ancestor.
 PLESIOMORPHIES

A primitive character (plesiomorphy) shows little or no

change from the same character in an ancestor.

A symplesiomorphy is a primitive character shared by

two or more taxa.
EXAMPLE: SYMPLESIOMORPHIES
All Chordates have
• pharyngeal gill slits
• a tail posterior to the anus
at some point in development.
These are symplesiomorphies with respect to all Chordates.
 EXAMPLE:
SYMPLESIOMORPHIES
Because all Chordates have
• pharyngeal gill slits
• a tail posterior to the anus

…these characters are not useful for classifying various chordates

into less inclusive taxa within Chordata.
 APOMORPHIES
A derived character (apomorphy) has
changed in appearance and/or function
relative to the same character in an ancestor.

A synapomorphy is a derived character

shared between two or more taxa.
 EXAMPLE: SYNAPOMORPHY
Embryonic pharyngeal pouches become gills in a fish.
The same pouches become middle ear structures in a mammal.

All mammals share

this trait.

It is a synapomorphy
of mammals with
respect to all other
vertebrates.
 CONSTRUCTING
PHYLOGENIES
Beware the homoplasy:
A character that
• looks the same or
• performs the same function

…in two taxa, but is NOT a product of common

ancestry
is an analogous character (homoplasy).
 CONSTRUCTING
PHYLOGENIES

Confusing a homoplasy
with a homology can
• obscure true evolutionary relationships
• lead to inaccurate phylogenies
CONSTRUCTING PHYLOGENIES
 CONSTRUCTING PHYLOGENIES
A phylogenetic tree is a
visual representation of
evolutionary history of a
group of related organisms.

We examine and compare

the group’s synapomorphies
to construct a phylogenetic
tree.
 CONSTRUCTING PHYLOGENIES
• A, B, C, D, and E are taxa
• w, x, y, and z are
hypothetical ancestors
• Each branch point is a node
• Each node represents a
branching from a common
ancestor.
• The base (root) of the tree
represents the common
ancestor of all taxa on the tree
 CONSTRUCTING PHYLOGENIES
• A phylogenetic tree is a
hypothesis.
• The branches at each node
can be rotated without
changing the information.
• Taxa branching from a
common ancestor are
called sister taxa.
 CONSTRUCTING PHYLOGENIES
• There is no such thing as a
“most highly evolved”
species.
• No extant or extinct
species can be considered
ancestral to another.
 CONSTRUCTING PHYLOGENIES
• To root the tree, one must use an OUTGROUP.
• This is a taxon related to, but not included in, the
group of interest (the INGROUP).
 CONSTRUCTING PHYLOGENIES
• The characters shared by both the outgroup
and the ingroup can be identified as
symplesiomorphies.

• These are not useful for determining smaller,

less inclusive groups within the ingroup.

• The outgroup confers polarity.

THE PHYLOGENETIC TREE
 THE PHYLOGENETIC TREE
• The goal is to construct taxa descended from a
single common ancestor.
• Such a taxon is said to be monophyletic.
 THE PHYLOGENETIC TREE
An (artificial) taxon that does not include all
descendants of an ancestral taxon is said to be
paraphyletic.
 THE PHYLOGENETIC TREE
An (artificial) taxon that groups taxa descended from
different common ancestors is said to be polyphyletic.
QUESTIONS?