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Systematics
Seeking Order Amidst Diversity
1.4 million
• That is about how many species there are
known on Earth
• systematics, sometimes known as
taxonomy, is science’s attempt to classify
and organize 1.4 million different things
• Keeping these things organized helps with things
such as museum management, field work,
identifying new discoveries, genetics, etc.
Common Names
• Used on an everyday basis, common names
can be confusing due to their inaccuracy
• Example, if I say to you, “Irish Moss.”
What would you think of?
Maybe something like this?
Sorry, its this.
Yeah, its
seaweed.
How about a tufted titmouse?
Maybe this guy?
NOPE!!!
Here he is. He’s in
your backyard all the
time. He likes
sunflower seeds.
One more.
• Dolphin
• got that image in your head?
Okay, that
works…but
This is a
dolphin too.
Mahi mahi
anyone?
How Organisms are Classified
• Systematics is the science of reconstructing
phylogeny (evolutionary history)
• A key part is taxonomy this is naming organisms
and placing them into categories
• there are seven major categories, which I think
you know: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family,
genus, species
• and the newer one, domain. This is really just
whether an organism is a prokaryote or a
eukaryote
Taxonomy
• Originated with ….
• wait for it…..
ARISTOTLE
what up
Carl von Linné
• He called himself…
• He called himself Carolus Linnaeus
• Jerkishnessity aside he did lay the
groundwork for the modern classification
system
Somehow you
knew that this is
exactly what he
would look like.
The Linnaean System
• Is the one you’re familiar with
• A hierarchical arrangement based on
resemblance to other organisms
• He also introduced the scientific name,
composed of genus and species
Modern systematics
• Uses many features to categorize organisms
• anatomy, developmental stages,
biochemical similarities, and the fossil
record
• The relationships are drawn as cladograms
or evolutionary trees