Biological and Paleontological Classification of Life (Phylogenetic Systematics) Links

Biological Diversity: Classification. Estrella Mountain Community College . Good, short summary of taxonomy, Linnean classification (kingdom, phylum, class, etc.), construction of phylogenetic trees and cladistics (shared derived features) and useful links to web resources.

Why Cladistics? Larry Flamer, Evolution and the Nature of Science Institute. Includes student handouts, teaching strategy, assessment, extentions and variations, and resources.

Making Cladograms. Beth Klamer and Larry Flamer, Evolution and the Nature of Science Institute.A lesson about and using cladistic classification. Includes student handouts, teaching strategy, assessment, extentions and variations, and resources.

The Linnean Taxonomic Hierarchy. Paleos. Short summary of Linnean classification with illustrated examples.

Cladistics. Palaeos. Short summary of cladistics, divided into an introduction, critique, and comparison to the Linnean classification system.

Journey into Phylogenetic Systematics.University of California , Berkeley. Good summary of the cladistics scheme of biological classification divided into an introduction, methodology, implications, and need for the system.

What is cladistics? Mike Taylor. Dinosaur FAQ. Good general discussion of cladistic methods, problems, and advantages. Written to help people reading dinosaur articles or websites understand cladisitic terminology and general methodology. There is also a section called What are classification, taxonomy, phylogeny, systematics, and cladistics? which offers short descriptions of these terms.

Tree of Life Project. The project is a collaborative effort of biologists from around the world, which provides information about biodiversity, the characteristics of different groups of organisms, and their evolutionary history. Click on a kingdom and follow the systematics (family tree) through the tree of life to more specific organisms. The tree uses technical (latin) names in a hierarchial classification (using cladistics/cladograms), but there is a general summary in an introduction along each part of the tree (scroll to text below the tree), followed by more technical information on characteristics, fossils, phylogenetic relationships, and references.

The Fossil Record 2. Benton, M.J., ed., Chapman and Hall, 1993. This site provides an online database of life through time compiled at the level of the family (so can also be searched by order, class, and phyla), which shows the oldest fossil occurrence, number of originations and extinctions, and number of taxa, through all time or by time intervals. You can search by family record, or by stage (time). You can also manipulate and plot the data as online. A good source of quantitative records for understanding/teaching earth history, extinctions, and evolution.

 

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