Taxonomy & Diversity of Life

2303103 General Biology

Acedemic Year 2016
Assistant Prof. Dr. Piyoros Tongkerd
 Unit 5 Diversity of life
5.1 History of life
5.2 Biological diversity (biodiversity) The amount of species diversity
Value of Biodiversity
The reasons of why there are a lot of biodiversity and
species of living things in Thailand
5.3 Taxonomy and systematics
Principles of taxonomy : classification, identification and
nomenclature taxonomic categories
Phenetic classification and phylogenetic classification
5.4 The three domain of life :
Eukarya
Bacteria
Archea
 Contents
II. Earth as stage for life

II. The first organism and evolving

III. The science of taxonomy: cataloging lifes diversity

IV. The scientific name

 The Universe

Big Bang 15,000


4,560
 The origin of earth and
the forming of the Moon

The sun was born at the center of

the Milky Way Galaxy
surrounding with the dust. Red earth with full of melting lava, ten time smaller
than the present size close to the size of Mar.

The Moon was born very close to the earth Hit by the massive meteorite
at the beginning. close to the Moon size
The early earth preparing for life
The liquid metal iron core of a planet creates a
magnetic field.
The Earth's magnetism is very fortunate, since it
protects life on Earth from dangerous particles in
the solar wind. If planets did not have magnetic
fields, life would be impossible.
This variation in sunlight causes the variation in the
climate in different parts of the Earth.
Sunlight may have played a part in the evolution of life.
The first volcanoes released gases, making the first
atmosphere.
We are not sure which molecules the atmosphere was made
of. It probably contained carbon dioxide molecules and water,
as well as many other molecules.
One thing is known: there were no oxygen molecules in that
atmosphere.
Rain falling down to make the ocean took about a
thousand years!
 Earth as stage for life
Setting the stage, 3.8 Billion years ago

The earths atmosphere is rich in

CO2, H2O, N2, lesser amounts of
methane and amonia

Temperature at the earths

surface drops below 100 C

Acidic rains fall, Erosion begins

UltraViolet light beats down

The earth's crust is thin and hot

Warm mineral-rich oceans form

 Origin of Life
Key Points

The conditions on the earth were

suitable for building life.

The building blocks of life were

generated either by aboitic synthesis or

arrived from extraterrestrial sources.

These building blocks were used to

generate the protiens, nucleic acids, and

organic phosphates necessary for life.

 3 scenarios have been proposed.

Organic molecules

1. were synthesized from inorganic

compounds in the earth
atmosphere

2. rained down on earth from outer

space

3. were synthesized at hydrothermal

vents on the ocean floor
1. Miller-Urey Experiment

water (H2O
methane (CH4)
ammonia (NH3) and
hydrogen (H2)
but no oxygen

- This mixture resembled the

atmosphere of the early earth.

- After a week, paper chromatography

show that the flask now contained
several amino acids as well as some
other organic molecules.

-17 of the 20 amino acids used in

protein synthes is, and all the purines
and pyrimidines used in nucleic acid
synthesis.
 2. Molecules from outer space?
The Murchison Meteorite

Murchison, Australia on 28 September 1969, turned

out to contain a variety of organic molecules

purines and pyrimidines

The ALH84001 meteorite

meteorite arrived here from Mars

not only a variety of organic molecules, including

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Organic molecules in interstellar space

methane (CH4), methanol (CH3OH), formaldehyde

(HCHO), cyanoacetylene (HC3N), polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons

inorganic building blocks as carbon dioxide (CO2),

carbon monoxide (CO), ammonia (NH3), hydrogen
sulfide (H2S), and hydrogen cyanide (HCN).
 3. Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents
hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon
dioxide at temperatures around 100C
These gases bubble up through
chambers rich in iron sulfides (FeS, FeS2)
can catalyze the formation of simple
organic molecules like acetate
Steps towards life
Concentrating the
building block of life
amino acids to
proteins
nucleic acids bases,
sugar, phosphoric acid
to nucleic acids (DNA,
RNA)

Catalyzed reactions on
clay minerals
amino acids and
nucleic acid bases are
attracted and bind to
clay minerals
Forming membranes
Protocells
 The big step
Combining the building blocks
into a self-replicating cell
with cell membrane
enclosing an environment of proteins,
DNA, RNA, ATP and their building
blocks

First Cell in the sea water

Once life was established, it would

consume the organic building
blocks.
 The Oldest Rocks
Isua Supergroup,
Greenland
1. sedimentary and
volcanic rocks
2. 3.8 Billion years old
3. carbon-rich
 The First Fossils
Warrawoona Series, Western Australia
sedimentary rocks deposited in a nearshore environment
3.5 billion years old
microfossils
simple cell structure
similar to modern cyanobacteria (blue-green algae)
 Stromatolite, produced by the activity of ancient
cyanobacteria. The layers were produced as calcium
carbonate precipitated over the growing mat of
bacterial filaments; photosynthesis in the bacteria
depleted carbon dioxide in the surrounding water,
initiating the precipitation.

In the Proterozoic (Precambrian), stromatolites were

widespread on earth, and were ecologically important
as the first reefs. By the close of the Proterozoic, the
abundance of stromatolites decreased markedly,
though cyanobacteria continued to leave a fossil
record.
stromatolites
structures produced by
sediment trapped in bactrial
mats

modern stromatolites
survive in limited (hyper-
saline) environments in
Shark Bay, Australia
Earth and life evolve together
Snowball Earth
 The Snowball Earth period.
The first snowball is 2,200 million years ago.
Primitive bacteria produced oxygen.

After the ice melting by the volcanic exposed

Complex single cell called Eukaryotes were
born.
First Eukaryote fossils are date from around
1,500 MYS.

The 2nd snowball is around 600 million years ago.

Temperature plummeting to -40 C

After the snowball earth

High oxygen level by product of cyanobacteria
Complex (multi-cellular organisms) worm-liked
animals built from the single cells and collagen.
Late Precambrian Fossils after 2nd Snowball (600
Million years ago.)
Metazoan fossils dating from 565 - 543
million years
First described in Australia, but have since
been found all over the world
Soft-bodied fauna preserved as casts or
molds at the base of sand beds
Trace fossils of worms are also common.
Originally, Most of the fossils were
interpreted to represent types of Cnidarians
(anemones and jelly fish).
One fossil Kimberella, has recently been
interpreted as a precursor to the Mollusks.
Spriggina, may be an arthropod precursor.
Others, however, are unlike any other
modern animals.
 Cambrian Explosion
Development of nearly all of the modern metazoan phyla

The Burgess Shale

Southeastern British Columbia, high in the Canadian Rockies

Discovered by Charles Walcott

Smithsonian Institution in 1909

Jay Gould's book, Wonderful Life

 Pikaia, the oldest known chordate
Charles Walcott

Marrella, a Burgess arthropod Olenoides serratus,

a large Burgess trilobite
While many of the Burgess animals
can be ascribed to modern groups, a
startling number of them do not belong in
such a group.

Opabinia shows a segment body, but

has five eyes and a feeding appendage.
No living animal is similar.
 Opabinia
(Lobopod ?)
Anomalocaris canadensis

Laggania cambria
Anomalocaris - reconstruction
 Hallucigenia
Presently classified as onychophoran

Modern velvet worms (onychophorans):

in tropical rainforests
Cambrian Time
Ordovician-Silurian Period, The First Mass Extinction

Continental Drift
Eurypterus remipes
Fiddler's Green Formation,
Herkimer County, New York
Caledonian orogeny is a mountain building era.
 Brachiopods continued
their diversification in the
Devonian seas
Ammonites, Crinoids and
other echinoderms

The first jawed fish were the Placoderms, an extinct group

of Devonian-aged jawed fishes
MELBOURNE scientists have uncovered the fossilised remains of the
world's oldest mother.

The 375 million-year-old armoured placoderm fish, with embryo and

umbilical cord attached, is the oldest fossil record of a live birth.

The find changes scientific understanding of how vertebrates evolved.

The 25cm fossil was found in May 2005 in the Gogo area near Fitzroy
Crossing in the northwest of Western Australia.
Top 10 New Species 2009
International Institute of Species Explorations
Devonian Delivery

Photos courtesy of John A. Long

Name: Materpiscis attenboroughi

Common Name: Mother Fish

http://species.asu.edu/2009_species09
The first shrub and tree-like plants,
such as Progymnosperms and
lycopsids, had evolved by the middle
Devonian. By the late Devonian the
first real trees, such as
Archaeopteris ("ancient fern" - not to
be confused with Archaeopteryx,
"ancient wing", the first bird!), had
appeared.
Jennifer A. Clack Cambridge University

Acanthostega
Acanthostega and Ichthyostega the first well-preserved tetrapods
In Late Devonian vertebrate speciation, descendants of pelagic lobe-finned fish like Eusthenopteron
exhibited a sequence of adaptations:
Panderichthys, suited to muddy shallows;
Tiktaalik with limb-like fins that could take it onto land;
Early tetrapods in weed-filled swamps, such as:
Acanthostega which had feet with eight digits,
Ichthyostega with limbs.
Descendants also included pelagic lobe-finned fish such as coelacanth species.
The Carboniferous forests produced tremendous The major animals on land during the Carboniferous
biomass which, when buried, eventually turned into were the amphibians and insects
massive coal deposits of the age.

Dragonfly fossils have been found with wingspans up to 75 cm. Petrolacosaurus: one of the very first reptiles ever
Synapsids: mammal-like reptiles, "stem-mammals", "proto-mammals"

Pelycosaurs
Foraminiferans that had appeard during the Carboniferous
Two Dimetrodon stroll past a pool with an emerging Eryops.
continued their diversification.
Trilobites were rarely encountered, although Brachiopods
and Crinoids had some recovery of species diversity
During the Permian the assembly of Pangaea was
completed and a whole host of new groups of
organisms evolved.
The Permian ended in the greatest of the mass
extinctions, where over 90% of all species were
extinguished.
Reconstruction of Gondwana is supported by the
distribution of various fossils, such as the plant fossil
Glossopteris.
Permian-Triassic Period, The 3th Mass Extinction
90% of life forms become extinct

Comet or Asteroid Impact

Siberian Traps Flood Volcanism related loss of oxygen in the sea.

Dinosaurs arose in the Triassic.
Cycads were a dominant vegetative type.

The cephalopods recovered from the extinction, They

quickly diversified to about 400 genera.
A very common little hunter of the Late Triassic, Coelophysis
During the Jurassic Period, dinosaurs were the most prominent animals on land. The long-
necked Apatosaurus (center) browsed on tall conifer trees. Allosaurus (foreground) was a
large predator that grew to lengths of 12 m (40 ft) and heights of 4.5 m (15 ft). Stegosaurus
(background) fed on ground vegetation such as low-lying ferns.
 The last of the major forms of plant life, the
angiosperms, appeared near the beginning of the
period.
Dinosaurs continued their diversification, with the
increasing dominance of the herbivorous
ornithischians.
The Cretaceous ended with the famous mass
extinction that resulted in the extinction of the non-
avian dinosaurs, the swimming reptiles, pterosaurs,
ammonites and other creatures, nearly 3/4 of all life
on Earth in fact.
CRETACEOUS OCEAN COMMUNITY

Plesiosaurs were magnificent ocean-

dwelling reptiles that "flew"
gracefully through the water with
massive paddles.

Mosasaur dentition was well-

adapted for catching fish,
ammonites, and other free-
swimming prey.

Baculites was a straight-shelled

cephalopod, about two feet in
length, that presumably
scavenged the bottom in search
of food.
The extinction event at the close of the
Cretaceous Period wiped out the dinosaurs, large
reptiles, and many other species. This left room for
new animals to develop.

The mammals became the dominant animals.

 The Tertiary Period: The Age Of Mammals Begins
The Rise of The Mammals
Mammals filled ecological niches in the sea on land and in the air.

Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon Bat Fossil

Hominids: Human Ancestors
During the Pliocene the first hominids appeared; these were our human ancestors!
The Tertiary was for the birds
Birds did almost as well as mammals during the Tertiary Period. Many of the birds we
know today were present.
Boney Fish and Sharks Develop New Species
Fish species branched out during the Tertiary Period. Sharks became more plentiful.
Trout and bass evolved.

Cladoselache
 Flowering Plants means nectar for insects
The insect population increased in the Tertiary Period. Bees and other insects that lived
on pollen and nectar of the flowering plants prospered.
The Tertiary Period ends with an Ice Age and Land Bridges
The cooling climate of the Tertiary Period led to huge glaciers at the poles. The mountains of the world were
also covered by glaciers, including the newly formed Himalayas and Alps. The huge amounts of water
locked up in the ice lowered the level of the sea and land bridges appeared:

Between Asia and North America

Great Britain and Europe
South East Asia and Borneo

This enabled migrations of both plants and animals across these land bridges.
Continents Arrive at Present Positions
The Quaternary Period began with an ice age about
1.8 million years ago. It is often called the Age of
Humans. It continues up to the present time and is the
period that we live in.
Animals Adapt To The Cold
The wooly mammoth, mastodon, wooly
rhinoceros, reindeer, and musk ox all
developed thick fur to help them survive
the frigid temperatures.
Most of these animals became extinct
when climates warmed in the Holocene
Epoch.
No one knows why?
But as with all mysteries lots of theories
have been put. One popular theory says
that humans hunted them to extinction.
Another says that these animals could not
adapt to the warmer climate.
The Quaternary Period: A Time Of Giant
Mammals or Megafauna

The Pleistocene is known for its megafauna or

giant mammals. Along with the wooly
mammoth and wooly rhinoceros there were
other giants: bison, ground sloths, and deer.

There were giant carnivores as well. The saber

tooth tiger, cave bear, and dire wolf were bigger
than their modern counterparts.

The megafauna disappeared at the end of the

Pleistocene.

All that remains are a few species of smaller,

though still good-sized, animals in Africa: the
elephant, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros.
The Rise of Humans

For us, the most important development of the

Quaternary Period is the development of the
hominids: Humans.

From the first primates in the Tertiary Period to

modern man, the hominid species has evolved
amazing abilities.

The earliest hominid fossils found so far date from

the late Tertiary Period. They were found in Africa.
As the Pleistocene Epoch continued, hominids
spread throughout the world. Their larger brains
allowed a level of thought and feeling that was, and
is, unique among the animals.
5 Mass Extinctions
 Major Mass Extinctions through
Geologic Time

Ordovician-Silurian boundary (440 MY)

Devonian-Carboniferous boundary (360 MY)
Permian-Triassic boundary (245 MY) base of the
Mesozoic 90% of life forms become extinct
Triassic-Jurassic boundary (208 MY)
Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (65 MY)
 Causes of Mass Extinctions
Competition
Reduction in food resources
Atmospheric changes
Climatic changes
Sea-level changes
Plate Tectonics
 The Sixth of Earths Extinction?
Present day the Holocene extinction event. A 1998 survey by the American
Museum of Natural History found that 70% of biologists view the present era
as part of a mass extinction event, possibly one of the fastest ever. Some,
such as E. O. Wilson of Harvard University, predict that man's destruction of
the biosphere could cause the extinction of one-half of all species in the
next 100 years. Research and conservation efforts, such as the IUCN's
annual "Red List" of threatened species, all point to an ongoing period of
enhanced extinction, though some offer much lower rates and hence longer
time scales before the onset of catastrophic damage. The extinction of
many megafauna near the end of the most recent ice age is also sometimes
considered a part of the Holocene extinction event.