The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification

What The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification covers

The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification is examined in all three written papers — the specification states that Components 01, 02 and 03 can each assess content from any of the five modules, so nothing is confined to one paper. It covers classification and the species concept, evidence for classification and DNA barcoding, phylogenetic trees, hominids and the evolution of language, human adaptations, natural selection and evolution, plant adaptations and how they are investigated and measuring biodiversity and genetic diversity.

The 6 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Classification and the species conceptRecall questions on biological classification and the hierarchy of taxonomic ranks, binomial names such as Homo sapiens, the biological and phylogenetic species concepts and their limits, why a horse and donkey remain separate species, and why classification should reflect phylogeny.Open →
• Evidence for classification and DNA barcodingRecall questions on physical and molecular evidence for classification, hominid skull features and the foramen magnum, the limits of fossil evidence, comparing DNA and amino acid sequences, and DNA barcoding with CO1 in animals and rbcL and matK in plants.Open →
• Phylogenetic trees, hominids and the evolution of languageRecall questions on reading phylogenetic trees, nodes and branch lengths, the living hominids and hylobatids, the chimpanzee as our closest relative, Homo neanderthalensis, molecular clocks and conflicting evidence, and the mother tongues and gossip hypotheses for the origin of language.Open →
• Human adaptations, natural selection and evolutionRecall questions on behavioural, physiological and anatomical adaptations, tool use and cultural practices, lactose tolerance, skin pigmentation, bipedalism and the costs of a large brain, natural selection, selection pressures and the sources of genetic variation.Open →
• Plant adaptations and how they are investigatedRecall questions on xerophytes and how sunken stomata, leaf hairs and cactus stems reduce water loss, hydrophytes and aerenchyma, alpine, shade and sun plants, and investigating stomatal density with nail varnish impressions and leaf area against light intensity.Open →
• Measuring biodiversity and genetic diversityRecall questions on genetic, species and ecosystem biodiversity, species richness and evenness, calculating and interpreting Simpson's Index of Diversity, D = 1 − Σ(n/N)², why diverse habitats are more stable, and the proportion of polymorphic gene loci as a measure of genetic diversity.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Species richness vs Index of diversity

  Species richness: the number of different kinds of organism present in a habitat, counted regardless of how many individuals each of them has. Index of diversity: a value between 0 and 1 that combines the number of different kinds of organism present with how evenly the individuals are shared between them.

• Hominid vs Hylobatid

  Hominid: a member of the great ape family, which comprises humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans. Hylobatid: a gibbon, one of the small apes that form the sister group to the great apes.

• Mitochondrial CO1 vs Chloroplast rbcL

  Mitochondrial CO1: the standard barcode gene for identifying animals, which changes too slowly in plants for closely related ones to be told apart. Chloroplast rbcL: a barcode gene carried in the photosynthetic organelle and used, with matK, to identify plants.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Define biological classification.

   Model answer

   Classification is the placing of organisms into groups on the basis of shared features, so that the diversity of life can be organised, named and studied.

2. 2

   List the taxonomic ranks in order from the largest to the smallest.

   Model answer

   Domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species.

3. 3

   What is meant by saying that classification is hierarchical?

   Model answer

   Each rank is contained wholly within the rank above it, the groups never overlap, and the groups become smaller and their members more similar as you move down the hierarchy.

4. 4

   State the rules for writing the binomial name of an organism.

   Model answer

   The genus name comes first with an initial capital letter and the species name follows in lower case, and both are printed in italics or underlined when handwritten.

5. 5

   Give the binomial name of modern humans and explain what each part identifies.

   Model answer

   Modern humans are Homo sapiens, where Homo names the genus to which the species belongs and sapiens identifies the particular species within that genus.

6. 6

   State the biological species concept.

   Model answer

   A species is a group of organisms with similar characteristics that can interbreed with one another to produce fertile offspring.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification revision questions

What does The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification cover in OCR A-Level Biology B?

6 subtopics: classification and the species concept, evidence for classification and dna barcoding, phylogenetic trees, hominids and the evolution of language, human adaptations, natural selection and evolution, plant adaptations and how they are investigated and measuring biodiversity and genetic diversity. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification organised?

By the OCR H422 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.