Principles of classification

User Generated

ehgurerf

Science

Description

Explain the principles of classification s

User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool's honor code & terms of service.

Explanation & Answer

Attached.

Surname1
Name:
Professor:
Course:
Date:

Principles of Classification
Think about an elephant. Develop a mental image of it. How would you describe it to
someone who has never seen one? Take a moment to consider carefully . . .
Click the button to see if
your mental image was accurate.

Very likely your mental image was a visual one like the picture. Humans primarily
emphasize traits that can be seen with their eyes since they mostly rely on their sense
of vision. However, there is no reason that an elephant or any other organism could not
be described in terms of touch, smell, and/or sound as well. Think about an elephant
again but this time in terms of non-visual traits . . .

Not surprisingly, biologists also classify organisms into different categories mostly by
judging degrees of apparent similarity and difference that they can see. The
assumption is that the greater the degree of physical similarity, the closer the biological
relationship.
On discovering an unknown organism, researchers begin their classification by looking
for anatomical features that appear to have the same function as those found on other
species. The next step is determining whether or not the similarities are due to an
independent evolutionary development or to descent from a common ancestor. If the
latter is the case, then the two species are probably closely related and should be
classified into the same or near biological categories.

Surname2
Homologies
are anatomical features, of
different organisms, that have a similar
appearance or function because they were
inherited from a common ancestor that also had
them. For instance, the forelimb of a bear, the
wing of a bird, and your arm have the same
functional types of bones as did our shared
reptilian ancestor. Therefore, these bones are
homologous structures. The more homologies two
organisms possess, the more likely it is that they
have a close genetic relationship.

Human arm bones
(common bird,
mammal, and
reptile forelimb
configuration)

There can also be nonhomologous structural ...


Anonymous
Excellent! Definitely coming back for more study materials.

Studypool
4.7
Trustpilot
4.5
Sitejabber
4.4

Related Tags