Which of the following lists Linnaean taxa in the correct order from general to specific?
a. phylum, order, family, genus
b. kingdom, order, class, phylum
c. family, phylum, genus, species
d. class, order, species, genus
What is a?
100
How many domains are there in the most current tree of life?
a. six
b. five
c. three
d. two
What is c?
100
Which of the following is the most abundant group of organisms on Earth?
a. protista
b. plants
c. bacteria
d. archaea
What is c?
100
What type of classification system is depicted? In this system, how are organisms classified or grouped?
Linnaean taxonomy.
100
This table classifies organisms into 1 of 3 domains. What is the basis of this classification system?
Either molecular biology, genetics, DNA, or rRNA.
200
In the Linnaean system of classification, which of the following is most commonly defined as a group of organisms that can breed and produce offspring?
a. phylum
b. species
c. genus
d. order
What is b?
200
How many kingdoms are there in the tree of life?
a. two
b. five
c. three
d. six
What is d?
200
Which type of molecular clock is used to measure evolutionary time between the most distantly related organisms?
a. amino acid
b. nuclear DNA
c. ribosomal RNA
d. mitochondrial DNA
What is c?
200
How does the figure illustrate the idea that each level is nested in the level above it?
Each level is included in all of the more general levels above it.
200
Compare this chart with Linnaean taxonomy. Name one similarity and one difference.
Both the Linnaean system and this chart include the kingdom level. However, the Linnaean system did not include domains, and originally included only two kingdoms.
300
Linnaean taxonomy names and classifies organisms based on
a. common ancestry.
b. physical characteristics.
c. mutation rates.
d. ribosomal RNA sequences.
What is b?
300
In the 1860s, all single-celled organisms were placed in their own kingdom called
a. Protista.
b. Archaea.
c. Eukarya.
d. Bacteria.
What is a?
300
The goal of cladistics is to classify species according to
a. the order in which they descended from a common ancestor.
b. their ability to produce offspring.
c. the geological time in which they appeared on Earth.
d. mutations in their DNA.
What is a?
300
What is one limitation of this type of classification system?
It focuses on physical similarities alone. It was created before technology allowed us to study organisms at the molecular level.
300
Give a brief description of each domain.
Eukarya: includes organisms whose cells have a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles.
Bacteria and Archaea: both prokaryotes but their cell walls are different.
Archaea: known for living in extreme environments.
400
Which of the following phrases describes a taxon?
a. a group of organisms in a classification system
b. a group of species that share no derived characters with others in a group
c. a group that can breed and produce offspring
d. a group that is larger than a kingdom or a domain
What is a?
400
Which domain contains all organisms that have a nucleus?
a. Bacteria
b. Archaea
c. Eukarya
d. Protista
What is c?
400
Modern classification is mainly based on
a. molecular clocks.
b. phylogeny.
c. taxonomy.
d. dichotomous keys.
What is b?
400
Why is the shark shown in the first and second rows, but not in any of the other rows?
The shark is in the same kingdom and phylum as the other animals in the first and second rows, but not in the same class, order, family, genus, or species.
400
Name the kingdom missing from the chart and describe the type of organisms you would find in this kingdom.
Protista: mostly unicellular organisms that have a nucleus.
500
In the Linnaean system of classification, a species is most commonly defined as
a. the commonly used name for an organism.
b. a group of organisms that can breed and produce offspring.
c. the most general taxon of the classification system.
d. a group with similar physical characteristics.
What is b?
500
Carl Woese divided the kingdom Monera into Bacteria and Archaea based on his finding that the two groups
a. are unicellular.
b. are prokaryotic.
c. live in different types of environments.
d. have very different rRNA.
What is d?
500
Which of the following contains the most members?
a. genus
b. order
c. family
d. class
What is d?
500
According to the classification in the figure above, which animal would appear to be the least closely related to the wolf?
The spider.
500
Why does this chart represent a work in progress? What type of change might take place?
The tree of life has changed many times. It changes when new discoveries reveal new differences or similarities within groups.