Scientific Reasoning
The Scientific Method consists of what six steps?
Observation, Question, Hypothesis, Experimentation, Analyze, Conclusion
The system of naming begun by Linnaeus in which each species is designated by two names, its generic name & its specific epithet is called...
Binomial nomenclature
What is the most inclusive and least inclusive category in the hierarchy?
Most: Domain
Least: Species
The biological species concept (BSC) was given its classic formulation by Ernst Mayr who stated...
Species are groups of actually or potentially interbreeding populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups
What is osmosis?
The diffusion of water across a membrane
This type of reasoning precedes from the specific to general
Inductive Reasoning
Give an example of homology and analogy.
The wings of bats & birds are homologous; indicating a common ancestor, as tetrapod forelimbs but, analogous as wings; indicating wings formed due to external influences, like the environment.
Give the definitions for Cladistic and Plylogenetic Analysis.
Cladistic analysis: the construction of cladograms
Phylogenetic analysis: the construction of phylogenies
All eukaryotes at first were placed into these four kingdoms
Plantae, Animalia, Fungi, & Protista
What are the four major clades or groups?
Archaeplastida, Excavata, SAR, Unikonta
Falsificationism is the view that
hypotheses can be proved to be false but not proved to be true- Karl Popper
Describe in detail a monophyletic group...
The members of a monophyletic group or clade share a derived character state
The derived character state is a homology or synapomorphy of the clade
Thus a clade or monophyletic group is a group that is united by synapomorphy
The taxon name Hominidae corresponds to what category?
The taxon name Homininae corresponds to which category?
Family
Subfamily
Under the BSC, what type of barriers maintain the separation between species by preventing even closely related species from interbreeding
Reproductive barriers
Diffusion is the...
tendency of particles to move from regions of higher to regions of lower concentration
Deductive Reasoning precedes from the _____ to the ______
General to the Specific
Polarity is the...
the ordering of a character’s states from ancestral to successively more derived conditions
A group that excludes one or more descendants of a common ancestor is a...?
Non-monophyletic group
All prokaryotes were placed into the group Monera, leading to the Three main groups...
Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya
Describe what contractile vacuoles, binary fission and budding is
Contractile vacuoles: membrane-bound organelles in freshwater protozoa that pump excess water from the cytoplasm
Binary fission: duplication of chromosomes by mitosis, followed by division of parent into two similar cells
Budding: a small piece of the parent breaks off & grows to adult size
The testability of scientific claims has several aspects including...
(1) Falsifiability We can prove that a false hypothesis is false
(2) Revisability Hypotheses are revised in the light of new evidence
(3) Reproducibility Observations & experiments must be reproducible
What excludes an organisms Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) ?
A polyphyletic group
Phylogenetic systematics or cladistics was founded by this German entomologist
Willi Hennig
List the three groups Protists consist of and a characteristic of them.
Protozoa-heterotrophic, motile like animals, unicellular
Algae- autotrophic, multicellular
Fungi-like-heterotrophic, has unicellular and multicellular stages
Tonicity describes the ability of a solution to cause a cell to gain or lose water, what are the different types of environments?
Isotonic environment: the solute concentration is the same on both sides of the membrane
Hypertonic environment : the solute concentration outside the cell is higher than inside
Hypotonic environment : the solute concentration outside the cell is lower than inside
Organisms use mechanisms of osmoregulation to prevent excessive gain or loss of water in hypertonic & hypotonic environments