B.8AC Taxonomy

The gray squirrel, Eastern fox squirrel, and red squirrel are all different species of squirrels. Why is having a scientific name for each species of an organism important?

• To prevent existing named organisms from having their names changed as they become extinct

• To keep the classification system from being altered as new organisms are discovered

• To allow organisms to be placed in many classification

• To standardize the naming and organization of organisms to avoid confusion

Organisms are classified today using the Linnaean system, and the following table shows the taxonomic classification of two marine organisms living along the Pacific Coast.

Taxonomic classification is important to marine biologists because it provides a way to -

• prove that marine evolution occurs

• discover and name every marine organism on Earth

• designate Latin as the universal language of marine biology

• identify marine organisms and find the evolutionary relationships between them

Scientists around the world use a standardized taxonomic system. Why would scientists want to use a taxonomic system that is standardized?

• In order to avoid confusion with the identification of organisms

• Because Linnaeus established the system

• So that Latin names can be applied for a practical purpose

• In order to place organisms in different groups

Adult mountain lions (Puma Concolor) are almost 2 meters long. They have a black spot over each eye. The common names used throughout the United States for this species are listed in the image.

Why is it best for scientists to use the name from the standardized taxonomic system?

• The standardized name differentiates mountain lions and pumas.

• The standardized name is less descriptive of the animal that has been observed.

• Communication with other scientists about mountain lions will be reduced.

• All scientists will be using one name for mountain lions.

The Linnaean taxonomic system classifies organisms into divisions called taxa. If two organisms belong to the same taxonomic group, they are related. Similarly at which of these levels indicates the closest relationship?

• Kingdom

• Class

• Order

• Genus

Having a standard taxonomic system benefits the scientific community by allowing scientists from all over the world to do which of the following?

• Have a common system for the classification of locations containing fossils

• Use a similar system to classify the impact of removing species from ecosystems

• Have a common understanding in the classification of organisms

• Understand how other scientists classify predator-prey relationships

Which list correctly identifies characteristics that protists share with animals?

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Five general characteristics of organisms in kingdoms Plantae or Fungi are listed in the box

Which table correctly lists the characteristics of the organisms in the two kingdoms?

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A student wants to use the Venn diagram to show the characteristics of two kingdoms of organisms. The characteristics that the two kingdoms share will be listed in the shaded area where the circles intersect.

Which of these is a characteristic that the student should list in the shaded part of the diagram?

• Heterotrophic

• Mobile

• Prokaryotic

• Multicellular

The diagram shows taxonomic groups and a major distinguishing characteristic of all but two of them.

Which characteristic will be used to complete the chart?

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