ANT 3514C – Introduction to Biological Anthropology Lab 5: Classification
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Course
ANT 3514c
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University Of Florida
ANT 3514C – Introduction to Biological Anthropology
Lab 5: Classification
Summer A 2018
Lab Objectives:
Identify similarities and differences among a group of hypothetical organisms
Construct a taxonomy for this group of organisms based on these traits
Interpret the role of evol...
ant 3514c – introduction to biological anthropology lab 5 classification
ant 3514c – introduction to biological anthropology lab 5 classification summer a 2018 lab objectives identify similaritie
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ANT 3514c
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Name: Kelly Northcraft________________________________________ Section: _22377__________
ANT 3514C – Introduction to Biological Anthropology
Lab 5: Classification
Summer A 2018
Lab Objectives:
Identify similarities and differences 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 character-
istics, 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 Canidae Apidae Liliaceae
e
GENUS Homo Canis Apis Alium
SPECIES sapiens lupus mellifera sativum
Common Name “human” “wolf” “honeybee” “garlic”
Figure 1
In the 18th C., many scientists believed that the Earth and all the organisms on it had been created
suddenly in their present form as recently as 4004 BC. This popular view changed dramatically when
Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859. In his book, Darwin presented convincing
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, evidence that life had evolved through the process of natural selection. The evidence gathered by
Darwin, and thousands of other biologists since then, indicates that all organisms are descended from a
common ancestor. In the almost unimaginable span of time since the first organisms arose (~3.7 billion
years ago), life has gradually diversified into the myriad forms we see today.
As a consequence of Darwin's work, it is now recognized that taxonomic classifications are actually
reflections of evolutionary history. For example, Linnaeus put humans and wolves in the class
Mammalia because they share certain traits (a backbone, hair, homeothermy, etc.). We now know that
this similarity is not a coincidence; both species inherited these traits from the same common
ancestor. In general, the greater the resemblance between two species, the more recently they
diverged from a common ancestor (although there are exceptions to this rule). When we say that the
human and wolf are more closely related to each other than either is to the honeybee we mean that
they share a more recent common ancestor that is not shared with the honeybee.
The Classification of Artificial Organisms
In this lab you will develop a taxonomic classification for a group of imaginary organisms called
Caminalcules after the taxonomist Joseph Camin who devised them. Fig. 3 (page 6) includes pictures
of the 14 different species that you will use. Take a look at the pictures and note the variety of
appendages, shell shape, color pattern, etc. Each species is identified by a number rather than a name.
Instructions: Complete Exercise 1 independently. Your instructor will then organize you into groups to
compare and discuss the classification systems you have developed. See if your group can reach a
consensus regarding the optimal classification scheme for Exercise 2. You will work on Exercise 3 on
your own time and consider the relationship between classification and our understanding of how a
particular group evolves.
Exercise 1: Carefully examine the 14 species pictured on page 6 and note the many similarities and
differences between them. Based on these similarities and differences, you will create a hierarchical
classification of these species like the one below. Instead of using letters (A, B, etc.), as in Fig. 2, use
the number of each species of Caminalcule. Keep in mind that Fig. 2 is just an example. Your
classification will look quite different from this one.
PHYLUM CAMINALCULA
CLASS 1 CLASS 2
ORDER 1 ORDER 2 ORDER 3
FAMILY 1 FAMILY 2 FAMILY 3 FAMILY 3
GENUS 1 GENUS 2 GENUS 3 GENUS 4 GENUS 5 GENUS 6
A G H D B J L E K C F I
Figure 2
The first step to creating your taxonomy is to decide which traits are most useful for grouping these
fictional animals. Each specimen represents a single species. At the bottom of the hierarchy, species
that appear most similar are grouped together into unique genera. The Caminalcules numbered 10 and
11 are a good example: They share a number of traits that none of the other species has, so they can
be grouped together in their own genus. Perhaps you will find a species that cannot be grouped with
any other and place it in a genus by itself. Once all the Caminalcules are in genera, you can decide
which genera are most similar and group them into families. Families can then be combined into orders,
and so on. Depending on how you organize the species, you may group all of the Caminalcules by the
time you reach the level of Order or Class. You do not necessarily have to get up to the level of Phylum.
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