Chapter 16

Chapter 16 - The Diversity of Life

Biosis Internet Resource Guide for Zoology - This is a professional resource, but it is very accessible to undergraduates. The opening page contains a list of sites relevant to systematics and taxonomy. For example, "The 'Nuts and Bolts' of Taxonomy and Classification" and "What Is Systematics?" are great descriptions of the processes of this field, complete with a neat exercise and a very succinct description of systematics. Biosis is the publisher of Biological Abstracts and Zoological Record, so this site also allows a search of biological literature.

Tree of Life - This site contains a cladogram—an evolutionary tree that distinguishes organisms by the primitiveness of their traits—of the known living organisms of the world. Details, descriptions, and photographs of the main groups of organisms are available, either on-site or through hyperlinks off-site. Begin an investigation of a particular group of organisms by selecting taxonomic categories at the higher end of the hierarchy and working down to the more specific categories. For example, select "Metazoa" (multicellular animals) for animals, then "Mollusca" for mollusks, "Cephalopoda" for squid, and so on. At each level, there is an introduction to the group, a discussion of the group and its characteristics, and references as well as illustrations for many taxonomic groups.

Welcome to the UC Museum of Paleontology - Navigate from this home page. "On-line Exhibits" takes you to a virtual museum of paleontology. Click on "Phylogeny" and then on "The Biosphere." If you scroll down the page, you can even check out viruses, but your primary goal here is to look at the relationships among the living organisms. From this point, work your way through phylogeny. This University of California site is a good one, with lots of links

The Five Kingdoms - This chart displays information about the five kingdoms, including their structure, how they move, and how they reproduce.

Three Domains Theory - This site contains a diagram of the phylogenetic tree which shows the evolutionary path of the three domains. To read more about it click the first link at the top of the page.

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This page was last updated on: February 12, 2006