22/09/2010

The nature of species

Classification
Tom Hartman
www.tuatara9.co.uk

Walliserops trifurcatus
Animal kingdom Module 11119

What is taxonomy? Diversity

• Naming the animals (Creation story)
• Grouping similar kinds together.
– Morphological data
– Molecular data (some surprises)
• Working with convergence.
• The Animal kingdom includes 1.3 million described
species. Estimates range from 2 to 30 million for how
many species are actually alive.
• These are grouped into 39 phyla (high level
grouping).
• Invertebrates comprise 97% of all animal species.
• Insects comprise more than 50% of all species of
everything.
• The success of insects (beetles) skews the ratio so
that most species are found on land but most phyla
are found in the sea.

What is classification? The Linnaean System

• A rigid system!
• DO NOT buck the nomenclature!
• Binomial system Genus species!!!
• Homo sapiens not Homo Sapiens or Homo
sapiens (unless Homo sapiens), etc.
• In scientific literature you read about
Tyrannosaurus rex
• It is, however, a type of tyrannosaur.

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Some genus and species Categories

• Aa (1940) a mollusc Classification acts as a retrieval system to
• Agra vation (1983) a beetle (A. cadabra) collect and order data on relationships
• Chaos chaos (1767) a protistan between different organisms.
• Batman (1956) a fish Domain
• Zyzzyx (1937) a wasp Kingdom
• Aha ha (1977) a wasp Phylum
• Montypythonoides riversleighensis (1985) a Class
snake
Order
• Polemistus chewbacca (1983) a wasp
Family
• Polemistus vaderi (1983) a wasp
Genus
• Upopa epops (1758) a bird
Species

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Ranking Ranking
Panthera
Tyrannosaurus rex
Species pardus Species

Panthera Tyrannosaurus
Genus Genus

Felidae Tyrannosauridae
Family Family
Suborder Theropoda

Carnivora Saurischia
Order Order

Mammalia Reptilia
Class Class
Subphylum vertebrata

Chordata Chordata
Phylum Phylum

Animalia Animalia
Kingdom Kingdom

Eukarya Eukarya
Domain Domain

Homologous structures
Relationships
• Tyrannosaurus rex and Panthera pardus
have many things in common.
– Animals, chordates, vertebrates
– Tetrapods, amniotes
• But many things separate them too e.g.
– Skull architecture
– Tooth differentiation
– Skin adornment
– Lactation
Human Cat Whale Bat

Homology Richard Owen

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Analogous structures
Analogy

Analogy can lead to convergence.

Convergence
Convergence

(a) Tuna

(f) Ichthyosaur
(b) Shark

(c) Penguin

(d) Dolphin
(g) Plesiosaur

(e) Seal

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Species (1)
• The detectable species: "a species
is composed of those specimens
that the taxonomist believes to be
conspecific.“
– Huge changes since molecular
techniques have been introduced.
– Vast detection of new orders in sea
water samples BUT no one knows what
they are from.
Species (3/4)
• The biological species: A species is "a
group of interbreeding populations which
are reproductively isolated from other
such groups".
• A refinement of this definition is the
Genetic species where a more
quantifiable standard is used to measure
genetic distance; either by comparing
protein or DNA sequences.
Species (7)
• The biosystematic species concept
is one defined by the diversity of
reproductive relationships.
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Species (2)
• The morphological species: "Species
are the smallest groups that are
consistently and persistently distinct
and distinguishable by ordinary
means."
– This is the most useful definition for
practical purposes.
Species (5/6)
• The evolutionary species. "An evolutionary
species is a lineage evolving separately
from others and with its own evolutionary
role and tendencies".
• The cladistic species is further defined as
being a single lineage of ancestral-
descendant populations of organisms
which maintains its identity from others
(and is thus also subject to the same
problems).
Modern taxonomy
Classification has moved away from the
simple grouping of organisms according to
their similarities (phenetics) and has become
the study of patterns of diversity within an
evolutionary context (systematics).
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Knowing lots about lots of

creatures.
Systematics includes: Systematics includes:
1. taxonomy 1. taxonomy
2. phylogenetic reconstruction which attempts
to identify shared, derived characters
(synapomorphies).

TAXA
Salamander

TAXA
(outgroup)

Lamprey
Lancelet

Leopard
Salamander

Turtle
Tuna
(outgroup)

Lamprey
Lancelet

Leopard

Hair 0 0 0 0 0 1
Turtle
Tuna

Amniotic (shelled) egg 0 0 0 0 1 1

Hair 0 0 0 0 0 1 Four walking legs 0 0 0 1 1 1

CHARACTERS

Hinged jaws 0 0 1 1 1 1
Amniotic (shelled) egg 0 0 0 0 1 1
Vertebral column (backbone) 0 1 1 1 1 1 (a) Character table. A 0 indicates that a character is absent; a 1
indicates that a character is present.

Four walking legs 0 0 0 1 1 1

Hinged jaws 0 0 1 1 1 1
Turtle Leopard

Hair
Vertebral column (backbone) 0 1 1 1 1 1 Salamander

Amniotic egg
Tuna

Four walking legs

Lamprey
Hinged jaws
Character table. 0 indicates that a character is absent; 1 Lancelet (outgroup)
(b) Cladogram. Analyzing the distribution of these
indicates that a character is present. Vertebral column
derived characters can provide insight into vertebrate
phylogeny.

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