ANT 3514C – Introduction to Biological Anthropology
Lab 5: Classification
Summer A 2018
Lab Objectives:
Identify similarities and differences
... [Show More] among a group of hypothetical organisms
Construct a taxonomy for this group of organisms based on these traits
Interpret the role of evolutionary process in constructing taxonomies
Evaluate the traits for evolutionary significance
Purpose: To understand the process of classifying organisms.
Lab Activity: Classification of Caminalcules
(adapted from Robert P. Gendron, Indiana University of Pennsylvania)
Humans classify almost everything—including each other. This habit can be quite useful. For example,
when talking about a car someone might describe it as a four-door sedan with a fuel injected V-8
engine. A knowledgeable listener who has not seen the car will still have a good idea of what it is like
because of certain characteristics it shares with other familiar cars. Humans have been classifying
plants and animals much longer than they have been classifying cars, but the principle is similar. One of
the central problems in biology is the classification of organisms on the basis of shared characteristics, or traits. For example, biologists classify all organisms with a backbone as "vertebrates." In this
case the backbone is a trait that defines the group. If in addition to a backbone an organism has gills
and fins, then it is a fish, a subcategory of the vertebrates. This fish can be further assigned to smaller
and smaller categories down to the level of the species. The classification of organisms in this way aids
biologists by bringing order to what would otherwise be a bewildering diversity of species. (There are
several million species, of which about 1 million have been named and classified.) The field devoted to
the classification of organisms is called taxonomy [Gk. taxis, arrange, put in order + nomos, law].
Biologists use a taxonomic system that was devised by Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778). It is a
hierarchical system grouping organisms into ever more inclusive categories from species up to
kingdom. Fig. 1 illustrates how four species are classified using this taxonomic system. (Note that it is
standard practice to italicize the genus and species names.)
KINGDOM Animalia Plantae
PHYLUM Chordata Arthropoda Angiospermophyta
CLASS Mammalia Insecta Monocotyledoneae
ORDER Primates Carnivora Hymenoptera Liliales
FAMILY Hominida
e
Canidae Apidae Liliaceae
GENUS Homo Canis Apis Alium
SPECIES sapiens lupus mellifera sativum
Common Name “human” “wolf” [Show Less]