METHODS AND TECHNIQUES FOR STUDYING MAMMALS

DOWNLOAD an Adobe Acrobat version of the 2009 lecture outline

CLASSIFICATION

classification from the University of Minnesota, General Zoology
 
Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) [Fig. 2.4]
taxonomy
          Linnaean System
    hierarchal system: hierarchy of taxonomic ranks.
        Domain
            Kingdom
                Phylum
                    Class
                        Order
                            Family
                                Genus
                                    Species
Group name endings 
        Superfamily -oidea (e.g., Canoidea)
        Family -idae (e.g., Canidae)
        Subfamily -inae (e.g., Caninae)
 
Binomial nomenclature
  • Species of animals are assigned unique scientific names.  A species name always consists of two parts:  the Genus and specific epithet.   The genus name is always first and capitalized.  The specific epithet is second and not capitalized.   Following Linnaeus, who used Latin for species names, the genus and/or species name is italicized or underlined. 

  •  

    Carl von Linné, Alexander Roslin, 1775. Currently owned by and displayed at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

    This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons.

     

     

     

       

    What is a species?

    1. Introduction from UC Berkeley

    Biological Species Definition

    1. “Species are groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations, which are reproductively isolated from other such groups.” Mayr 1942 
    2. “All members of the same species share a common gene pool.” Dobzhansky 1950

    Phylogenetic species concept: from UC Berkeley

    1. a species is a “tip” on a phylogeny, that is, the smallest set of organisms that share an ancestor and can be distinguished from other such sets.

    ESTABLISHING RELATIONSHIPS

    Taxonomic Keys

    Philosophies of Classification

    1. numerical taxonomy
    2. evolutionary taxonomy
    3. Phylogenetic Systematics (cladistics)

    Terminology

    character:
    recognizable attribute
    apomorphy:
    derived or specialized character
    plesiomorphy
    primitive or ancestral character
    autapomorphy
    characterizes a terminal branch only
    synapomorphy
    shared derived character inferred to have originated in the latest common ancestor
    sister groups:
    two monophyletic groups share a common ancestry with each other more recently than either one does with any other taxa
    monophyletic:
    entire phylogeny; latest common ancestor plus all and only all its descendants
    paraphyletic:
    group having a common ancestor; but from which one or more descendent groups have been excluded; can not be defined strictly by synapomorphies; part of phylogeny; e.g. Class Reptilia if it does not include birds; stem groups
    polyphyletic:
    descendents of unrelated ancestors; does not include the common ancestor of at least two taxa; taxa are grouped together because of convergent evolution

    Determining Monophyly


    METHODS AND TECHNIQUES FOR STUDYING MAMMALS


    FIELD METHODS

    Trapping and Marking

    Trapping
    live trapping [Fig. 3.1]
    kill trapping
    Marking
    tags
    collars [Figs. 3.2, 3.3]
    dyes
    clipping
    Monitoring
    radiotelemetry [Fig. 3.3]
    home range [Fig. 3.4]

    Geographic Information and Global Positioning Systems

    Observational Methods

    1. focal animal sampling [Fig. 3.5]
    2. scan sampling:

    LABORATORY METHODS - A

    Morphometrics

    Biological Classification

    taxonomic key

    LABORATORY METHODS - B

    Physiological Measures

    metabolic activity (Fig. 3.9)

    LABORATORY METHODS - C

    GENETICS AND MOLECULAR TECHNIQUES

    Chromosomes
    karyotypes [Fig. 3.9]
    Protein Assays
    protein electrophoresis [Fig. 3.10]
    DNA assays
    restriction fragment-length polymorphisms (RFLP’s)
    nuclear DNA
    mitochondrial DNA [Fig. 3.14]
    DNA fingerprinting
    variable numbers of tandem repeats
    DNA sequencing

     -

    Return to:

    Mammalogy Syllabus

    Baskin Home Page

    Biology Home Page