Taxonomy

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 of the classification of organisms

• understand how other scientists classify predator-prey relationships

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

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

• kingdom

• class

• order

• genus

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 below. 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

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

• 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

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 at the universal language of marine biology

• identify marine organisms and find evolutionary relationships between them

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

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 levels at the same time

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