Classification of Living Things Tool : Aenima

Bird fish cat dog iguana. Haaaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. So how does this fit together into biology? There is a section of biology called taxonomy. These geeks work on naming living things. They use Binomial nomenclature to say cat fish dog iguana. So cat fish dog iguana isn't specific enough for them. They have to go to Bald Eagle, mackeral, bush dog, the common wild cat, and green iguana. This, however, still isn't good enough. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. What more could there be? How about Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Scombes scombrus, Speothos venaticus, Felis silvestris, and Iguana iguana. Yes sirreee. Now we have some names going on here. What does it mean? Well, the first word, lets take Iguana iguana (doh!!! well, lets take Felis silvestris), felis is the genus. Silvestris is the specific species. Have fun. 8)

Here are some links that will help you:

Natural Perspective : A nifty place. Good pictures.

UCMP Taxonomy : Don't ask about the name. Not really that good of a site overall but it has a few good things on dinosaurs and ancestors.

Mammal Species of the World Index : A not so easy to use way to find some mammal species.

Marine Biological Laboratory : A good thing to look up marine stuff.

Your book. Probably the best guide to all of this, but as we all know it gets boring so you can use this to get the basics and listen to cool stuff. 8)

And now to the good stuff.

This is as bare as it gets people. It may not seem coherent because it isn't, these are almost my notes word for word. BARE facts here. This will do NO good if you haven't at least gone over the material. I explain very few terms and leave out many details. This should be a foundation for studying, not a study guide (although for the right $$$$ I could do that)



Monera:

All prokaryotic organisms (bacteria-non organnelled single celled organisms) Most are heterotrophs, some are autotrophic. These have three different shapes, circus-round, bacillus-rod, spirillum-spiral. They move by flagella. Usually saprobes or parasites. Two kinds of monera. Archaebacteria live in harsh environments. Eurobacteria are the rest.

Protists:

Eukaryotic (membrane bound organelles). Most of them are unicellular, but some are colonial. 3 types.

Protozoa-Heterotrophic.

Sarcodine (Amebas) Move by pseudopods.

Ciliates (Paramecium). Have two kinds of nuclei (macro and micro I think).

Zooflagellates (Trypanosoma) Move by flagella.

Sporozoa (Plasmodium) Use spores to reproduce.

Algae.

Euglenoids- Have a light sensitive spot. Contain chlorophyl. Use the spot to align themselves to acheive optimal photosynthesis.

Gold Algae- The diatoms. They have wonderfull patterns made by a glasslike exoskeleton-like thingy.

Dinoflagellates-Are bioluminescent.

Green Algae-Contain chlorophyl.

Brown Algae-They are photosynthetic.

Red algae- I have no idea what makes them special exept for the fact they contain red pigment.

Fungi-like. Slime mold (ewwww) Watery mold. Downy mildew.

Fungi:

Decomposers (saprobic). Some are parasites (athletes foot). They digest their food outside their body by releasing digestive enzymes and absorbing the nutrients. Made of hypha (microscopic filaments that make up fungi). The hypha are usually arranged in networks called mycelium. Structure is provided by chitin. Can use asexual and sexual reproduction. Asexual involves spores. Sexual reproduction results in short-lived diploid cells that undergo meiosis to produce haploid spores. There are four types of fungi:

Oomycetes-Water molds. Sexual spores called oospores.During sexual reproduction, a zoospore is produced. It has a flagella and is able to move around like some animal cells. Seen in nature as downy mildew on grapes, and fungal infections on fish.

Zygomycete-Bread molds. During sexual reproduction, opposite hypha fuse to produce zygospores.

Ascomycetes-During sexual production form tiny sacs called ascus which are filled with ascophores and are capable of producing and entire organism. Powdery mildews and cup fungi.

Basidiomycetes-Club fungi. Called club fungi because of the club like basidia which produces basidiospores. 'Rooms are included here.

The plants. Because of the great amount of info. I'll put even more of a skeleton here. hehe.

Autotrophic. Eggs produced in archegonia. Sperm produced in antheridia. Two basic types:

Bryophytes-Nonvascular plants. Have a waxy covering to keep moisture. No roots, stems, or leaves. Have parts that are like them though.

Tracheophytes-Vascular plants. Have tissues which distribute fluids. Xylem carries water. Phloem carries minerals. Have roots and leaves. Three types:

Ferns-Seedless vascular plants. Leaves of a fern are called fronds. Produce spores in cases called sori on the underside of the fronds.

Gymnosperms-Plants with unprotected seeds (pine and conifers) Seeds are not enclosed in tissus. The name itself means Naked Seed. "Hi I'm Naked Seed." ok I'm over it. Trees produce male and female cones (wow, there IS a difference in them), which produce pollen or ovules(female). When the ovule gets some pollen, fertilization has occured. Some time later the seed falls and germinates into a new tree. "huhuhuhuh, plant sex."

Angiosperms-Plants with protected seeds (flowering plants). "Hi, I'm Seed Vessel" (look at Gymnosperms for the joke). There is just waaaaaaaay too much stuff about their reproduction to type up here. I'd be crazy (or paid some money) to do it all. This is where you get your book out and learn. Independant learning day.

Animals:

This is the BIGGEST kingdom. It is sooooooooooo huge I'll just post a bunch of phyla, subphyla, classes, and some organisms within each.

Phylum Porifera-sponges

Phylum Cnidaria-jellyfish, corals, sea anemones

Phylum Platyhelminthes (whew)-flatworms, tape worms, flukes.

Phylum Nematoda-roundworms

Phylum Annelida-earthworms and leeches.

Phylum Mollusca-snails, clams, octopus.

Phylum Anthropoda-lobsters, crabs (the ones on the beach), spiders, sea urchins.

Phylum Chordata

Subphylum Urochordata-tunicates, sea squirts

Subphylum Vertebrata-animals with backbones

Class Agnatha-lamprey

Class Chondichthyes (whew)-sharks, rays (cartilage skeletons)

Class Osteichthyes-bony fish, trout, salmon

Class Amphibia-frogs, salamanders, toads

Class Reptilia-snakes, lizards, other reptiles

Class Aves-birds

Class Mammalia-mammals, monkeys, humans, whales

Aren't you glad I didn't give details on this one? I know you're not. I am because this is uncomfortably long.

Like I said, your book is probably the best guide here. I haven't found a comprehensive web page yet but I'm still looking.