Classification and Systematics ‣ Ex.

Fabaceae/Leguminosae (Eudicot), Liliaceae

(Monocot), Rosaceae (Roses), Asteraceae/
Concepts Compositae (Daisies, asters, sunflowers), Poaceae/
Graminae (Grasses: wheat, rice, corn), Brassicaceae
- Fossils /Cruciferae (Mustards), Apiaceae/Umbelliferae
‣ Lines of evolution that have become extinct (Umbels: celery, dill)
- Phylogeny 4. Order
‣ Hereditary relationships of any group of organisms ‣ –ales
‣ Evolutionary history of each member of the group ‣ Ex. Fabales (Eudicot), Liliales (Monocot)
‣ The steps that were involved as a group/several groups of 5. Class
organisms evolved from some early ancestor ‣ –opsida
‣ Reality ‣ Ex. Magnoliopsida (Eudicot), Liliopsida (Monocot)
- Systematics 6. Division
‣ Study; Understand these evolutionary lines ‣ –phyta
‣ Determine which organisms share a recent ancestry with ‣ Ex. Chlorophyta (Green Algae), Coniferophyta
others (Conifers), Magnoliophyta (Flowering plants)
‣ Concerned about the amount of evolutionary changes that 7. Kingdom
may have occurred between ancestries 8. Domain
‣ Hypothesis, attempt to map evolution ‣ Archaea
- Taxonomy ‣ Bacteria
‣ Classifying and naming organisms ‣ Eukarya
- Nomenclature - Lumpers
‣ System of names that reflects the relationships of ‣ Taxonomists, believe that distantly related species should
evolutionary lines accurately be grouped together in large genera
‣ Has numerous levels: closely related = genus, genera = ‣ Ex. Cranberries and blueberries are similar enough that
family, and so on the should be grouped in genus Vaccinium
- Taxonomists / Systematists - Splitters
‣ Discover organisms and assign names ‣ Prefer many small genera with few closely related species
‣ Identify and explain lineages and evolution ‣ Ex. Cranberries are distinct enough from blueberries that
- Goals of Taxonomists the should be grouped in their own genus Oxycoccus
‣ Developing a Natural System of Classification - Monophyletic Group
• Closely related organisms are classified together ‣ Genera are natural
• Nomenclature reflects natural system of classification ‣ All species in the genus are closely related by a common
(see below) ancestor
‣ Assigning plant names based on phylogenetic ‣ All descendants of that ancestor are in the same genus
relationships - Polyphyletic Group
‣ Unnatural
Levels of Taxonomic Categories ‣ Members evolve from different ancestors
‣ Resemble each other due to convergent evolution
- Varying degrees of relatedness ‣ Convergent Evolution
- Taxonomic Ranks • Same traits, different ancestor
1. Species - Binomial System of Nomenclature
‣ Most fundamental ‣ Scientific name composed of the genus name and species
‣ Most closely related by descent epithet
‣ Can interbreed successfully ‣ Typewritten: Zea mays
‣ Do not have standard suffixes ‣ Handwritten: Zea mays
‣ Subspecies ‣ Other examples: Lycopersicon esculentulum (Tomato),
• Extremely closely related, similar genetically Fagopyrum esculentulum (Buckwheat), Colocasia
• Chromosomes can function in the same nucleus esculenta (Taro)
and spore mother cells can undergo meiosis when ‣ Carolus Linnaeus
mature • Professor of natural history at University of Uppsala in
• Organisms have undergone divergent evolution Sweden
from common ancestor recently so that few • Adopted genus system of Bauhin
mutations* accumulate since the diversion • Created genera and placed species into one genus or
• As mutations accumulate, when the two another
subspecies are crossed the offspring becomes • Created the Binomial System of Classification
sterile ‣ J.B.P. de Lamarck
- Ex. Horses and Donkeys are not the same • Inheritance of required characteristics
species but can reproduce (Offspring: Mule). • “All cells of the body produced fluids that diffuesd into
Mules are sterile. genitalia”
* Mutations - Change in genetic sequence, ‣ Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace
nitrogenous bases change (Adenine, Guanine, • Theory of evolution by natural selection
Cyanine, Thymine) • Species are descendants of a common ancestor and
2. Genera (Genus, singular) are related by evolution
‣ Closely related species • “Survival of the fittest”: most adapted to the current
‣ Grouping of a genus is subjective and causes environment
dispute
3. Family Cladistics
‣ Usually well-derived, enough characteristucs are
unique to each family (cacti, daisies, orchids, etc.) - Study of phylogeny
‣ –acea - Examining the similarity of on species to others
- Method of analyzing phylogenetic, evolutionary relationships advantageous, spines deter animals from eating
- Involves construction of a Cladogram/Phylogenetic Tree plants to get water. Cactus spines are modified
- Species > Two Separate Species leaves, Euphorbia spines are modified shoots in
‣ Accumulate distinct alleles the axil of leaves
‣ Acquire own mutations - Paraphyletic Group
‣ Cannot breed, cannot share new alleles ‣ Does not contain all descendants of
- Reasons plants resemble each other: - Uninformative Character
‣ Descended from a common ancestor ‣ Trait that does not help understand phylogeny
‣ Undergone convergent evolution ‣ Plesiomorphy, Symplesiomorphy, Autapomorphy,
- Mutations that affect early stages of development can cause Homoplasy
closely related species to look deceptively similar - Informative Character
- DNA Sequencing ‣ Helps understand phylogeny
‣ Most effective tool for analyzing evolutionary relationships ‣ Apomorphy and Synapomorphy
‣ Sequence of nucleotides in the DNA of a species must - Principle of Parsimony
differ from other species ‣ Prefer the simplest hypothesis
‣ Do not make it more complicated than it needs to be
I. Understanding Cladograms ‣ Move on to more complicated hypothesis only when
- Cladogram data indicates that the simplest is false
‣ Diagram that shows evolutionary patterns by means of - Equally Parsimonious
a series of branches ‣ Equally simple cladorgams with the taxa arranged
- Cladogram Parts differently
‣ Node - Unresolved Polychotomy
• Points at which cladogram branches ‣ Not enough data to form an accurate depiction of the
• Divergence of one taxon into two phylogeny
• Branches that extend from a node represent
descendants of original group II. Cladograms and Taxonomic Categories
• Represents a detectable change that forms a new - Originally it was believed that Angiosperms were divided
group; after divergence, one taxa differs form the into two: Monocots and Dicots, and that this convergence
other due to mutations/accumulation of mutations occurred very early
that causes one taxa to be unable to breed with - However, there is strong evidence that early
the other taxa angiosperms diverged into several clades before this
‣ Polytomy happened
• Various groups come from the same node - Living descendants of these early clades are called Basal
‣ Common Ancestor Angiosperms (no formal taxonomic name)
• Represented by the point where descendants - The rest are called Eudicots, which have pollen tricolpate
branch out (Node)
‣ Clade Other Types of Classification Systems
• Any ancestor and all the branches that lead from it
‣ Plesiomorphy I. Artificial Systems of Classification
• Ancestral Condition - Uses several, easy to observe characters
‣ Symplesiomorphy - Ex. Picture guides, white and red flowers, trees shurbs
• Shared ancestral characters herbs and vines
• Shared primitive traits
• Not helpful in analyzing relationships II. Classification Systems for Fossils
‣ Apomorphy - Form Genera
• Derived condition not present in ancestors ‣ Artificial classification is used before natural
‣ Synapomorphy/Homologous Features classification
• Similar phenotype, descended from common ‣ Compare to living species
ancestral feature
• Share derived character Taxonomic Studies
• Important characters to search for - International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
• Forms a natural/monophyletic group ‣ Describes steps needed for naming a species
• Ex. Anthurium Family: have spathe and spadix - Type Specimen
inflorescence ‣ Single preserved plant that truly carries the name
‣ Autapomorphies ‣ Contains all characteristics of new species
• Unique derived characters - Isotypes
• Occurs in only one group ‣ Other specimens as similar as possible to type specimen
• Does not help understand relationships
• Ex. Large ears of Zea mays The Major Lines of Evolution
‣ Homoplasy/Analogous Features - Bacteria
• Different genotypes ‣ Cyanobacteria (blue green algae)
• Result of convergent evolution - Archaea
• Characters appear the same - Eukarya
• Similar phenotype, different ancestors ‣ Animals and Fungi
• Two distinct evolutionary lines respond to similar ‣ Plants
environments and selection pressures ‣ Protists
• Mistaking homoplasies for synapomorphies - Grade Classification
creates unnatural/polyphyletic groups ‣ Protistans were placed together because they had a lpw
• Ex. Cacti and Euphorbias (Succulent): Do not level of evolutionary development
share common ancestry but occur in deserts - Kingdom Plantae
where succulent water storing bodies are ‣ Algae adapted to living on land