The Three Domains of Life

Finding Order in
Diversity
• Earth is over 4.5 billion
years old.
• Life on Earth appeared
approximately 3.5 billion
years ago and has been
changing due to natural
selection as well as other
processes and has led to an
incredible amount of
diveristy.
• 1.5 million species have
been named so far!!!
• 2-100 million more species
 ????????????????
What is the scientific name for the human
species???

What do you think the common name is for

Felis catus?

How about Canis familiaris?

In each case, what does the first of the two

names refer to?

What do the two names together refer to?

Which group is more inclusive?

 What is Classification?
• Classification is the arrangement
of organisms into orderly groups
based on their similar
characteristics.
• The science of classification
which involves identifying,
classifying and naming is also
known as taxonomy.
• taxis = arrangement or order
• nomy = law
 Why Do We Need to Classify
Organisms?

Tursiops
truncatus
Coryphaena hippurus
 Why Do We Need to Classify
Organisms?

• Cougar
• Mountain
lion
• Puma
• Panther

Puma
concolor
Panthera
onca
 Carolus
• Linnaeus
18th century Swedish botanist
• Known as the “Father of Taxonomy”
• Classified organisms by their structure, size, shape and
color.
• Developed the binomial nomenclature system.
• Every organism gets a two-word name (Genus & species)
 Present System of
• Classification
uses language of Latin
• system uses binomial nomenclature (bi = two,
nomen = name)
• creatures are known by their genus and species
name
• based on structure, DNA, evolutionary descent
• human Homo
• gorilla sapien
• rainbow Gorilla
trout gorilla
• genus name and species name italics if typed,
Oncorhynch
underline if handwritten
us mykiss
• genus name capitalized, species name lower case
 Linnaeus’s System of
Classification
• Hierarchical system (consists of
levels)
• Each level is called a taxon.

Domai
n
Kingd
om
Phylu
m
Class
Order
Family
Domain –largest and most
inclusive – a major group, second
Kingdom
highest
taxonomic rank
Phylum – group of closely related
classes
Class
Family– –group of of
a group similar orders
genera that share
Order
many –characteristics
group of similar families
Genus – a group of closely related
species
Species – a group of similar
organisms that can breed and produce
Which two animals are more
closely related?

Ursu Ursus Ailuropod

s maritim a
arcto us melanole
s uca
Kingdom Animalia Animalia Animalia
:
Chordata
Phylum: Chordata Chordat
a
Mammalia
Class: Mammalia Mammal
ia
Carnivora
Order: Carnivora Carnivor
a
Family: Ursidae Ursidae Ursidae

Genus: Ursus Ursus Ailuropoda

U.
Species: U. arctos A.
maritimus melanoleuca
Kingdo Animalia Animalia
m: Animalia

Phylum: Chordat Chordata Chordat

a a
Class: Mammal Mammalia Mammal
ia ia
Order: Carnivor Carnivora
Carnivor
a a
Family: Felidae Felidae
Felidae
Genus: Panther Felis Felis
a
Species P. leo F. F. catus
: silvestris
 Modern Evolutionary
Classification
• In Linnaeus’s time organisms where
classified based solely on their
observable adult traits.
• This posed many problems because
animals that looked similar were
classified together even though they
were not closely related.
 Family:
Ursidae

Family:
Ailuridae
 Evolutionary Classification-
Systematics
• Darwin’s ideas about descent with
modification gave rise to the study
of phylogeny.
• Phylogeny is the study of
evolutionary relationships among
organisms.
• Evolutionary classification is the
strategy of grouping organisms together
based on their evolutionary history.
 Evolutionary Classification-
Systematics
• Homologous structures are one of the
best sources of information for
phylogenetic relationships.
• The greater the number of homologous
structures between two species, the
more closely related the two species
are.
• DNA comparisons
 Classification Using
Cladograms
Derived characters are characteristics
that appear in recent parts of a lineage or
“family tree” but not in its older members.
These
characteristics are used to derive
cladograms, which are diagrams that
show the evolutionary relationship amoung
a group of organisms.
 Understanding
Phylogenies When a lineage splits
(speciation), it is represented as
branching on a
phylogeny. When a speciation
event occurs, a single ancestral
lineage gives rise to two or more
daughter lineages.

Phylogenies trace patterns of

shared ancestry between
lineages. Each lineage has a
part of its history that is
unique to it alone and parts
that are shared with other
lineages.

Similarly, each lineage has

ancestors that are unique to that
lineage and ancestors that are
 Similarities in DNA and
RNA
• All organisms use DNA and RNA to pass
on information to their offspring and to
control growth and development
• Genes (DNA) of many organisms show
important similarities at the molecular
level. These similarities can be used to
help determine classification and
evolutionary relationships.
• For example…..myosin is a protein
found in our muscles. We
have a gene that codes for myosin,
but so does yeast!!! Which
means that we must share a common
ancestor!!
 Kingdoms and
Domains In Linnaeus's time
the only known
differences among
living things were the
fundamental traits
that separated
animals fromplants.

Animals were
mobile and ate
food for energy

Plants were green,

used photosynthesis
Aristotle' Classificati into to
s on convert
energy. the sun’s
 Tree of Life
Evolves
As more information about the natural world
became known biologists realized they needed
more than just two kingdoms to classify all
of the organisms.
Changing Number of Kingdoms
First
Name of Kingdoms
Introduc
ed
1700s Plantae Animalia
Late 1800s Protista Plantae Animalia
1950s Monera Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia
1990s Eubacteri Archaebacteri Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia
a a
We use the six kingdom
system of classification
 Three Domain
System
• Scientist now group modern
organisms according to how long
they nave been evolving
independently.
• Domain is a more inclusive category
larger than a kingdom.
• There are 3 Domains
– Bacteria: Eubacteria
– Archaea: Archaebacteria
– Eukarya: Protista, Fungi, Plantae,
Animalia
 Domain: Bacteria
Kingdom: Eubacteria
• Prokaryotic
• Unicellular
• Thick rigid cell walls surrounded by a
cell membrane
• Peptidoglycan in cell wall
• Autotroph or heterotroph
 Domain: Archaea
Kingdom:
• Prokaryotic Archaebacteria
(some research suggests they are
closer to eukaryotes based on gene comparison)
• Cell wall without peptidoglycan
• Autotroph or heterotroph
• Can survive without oxygen
• Extremophiles: halophiles and thermophiles.
• Methanogens – produce methane gas (CH4)
Sulfolobus is an extremophile that is
found in hot springs and thrives in
acidic and sulphur-rich environments.

Methanosarcina rumen is anaerobic, and is

found in places with little or no oxygen. It is
a methane- producing organism that digests
decaying organic matter. It is found in the
rumen of a group of animals called
ruminants such as cattle and sheep.

Staphylothermus marinus is an
extremophile found in deep ocean
hydrothermal vents, thriving on volcanic
sulphur and surviving in water
temperatures of up to 98°C.
 Halococcus salifodinae is found in water
with high concentrations of salt. These
high salt concentrations would be
deadly to most other forms of life, and
so H. salifodinae is also known as an
extremophile.

Methanococcoides burtonii is an
extremophile and was discovered in 1992
in Ace Lake, Antarctica, and can survive in
temperatures as low as -2.5 °C.
 Domain:
Eukarya
Kingdom:
Protista
• Eukaryotic organisms that cannot
be classified as animals, plants or
fungi
• Greatest variety of all kingdoms!
• Unicellular for the most part, some
are multicellular
• Some are photosynthetic and
some heterotrophic
 Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Fungi
• Heterotrophs
• Most multicellular, yeasts are
unicellular
 Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Plantae
• Multicelluar
• Photosynthetic
autotrophs
• Non-motile
• Cell wall contains
cellulose
 Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
• Multicellular
• Heterotrophi
c
• No cell walls