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Understanding Biological Families in Taxonomy

This quiz tests knowledge on the concept of family in biological taxonomy, including historical context, classification ranks, and the contributions of key figures like Carolus Linnaeus.

#Biology #Taxonomy #Classification #Linnaeus #Evolution #Phylogenetics

1 In ________, family (Latin: familia) is

2 ________, list of family names in the taxonomy of biology

3 The concept of rank at that time was still ________, and in the preface to the Prodromus Magnol spoke of uniting his families into larger genera, which is far from how the term is used today.

4 Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, ________, and species, with family fitting between order and genus.

5 ________, the study of evolutionary relatedness among various groups of organisms

6 ________, the classification of organisms by their order of branching in an evolutionary tree

7 Carolus Linnaeus used the word familia in his Philosophia botanica (1751) to denote major groups of plants; ________, herbs, ferns, palms, etc.

8 He used families (part of them not named) in some but not in all his orders of "insects" (which then included all ________).

9 Family, as a rank intermediate between order and ________, is a relatively recent invention.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • the Rufous Hornero (pictured), a common species in the ovenbird family, is the national bird of Argentina.
  • the Lulworthiaceae are a family of marine fungi that typically grow on submerged wood or seaweed.
  • the flora of Western Australia (floral emblem pictured) comprises 9437 native vascular plant species of 1543 genera within 226 families.
  • the sittellas (pictured) of Australasia were once thought to be nuthatches but are now considered their own family.
  • the Southern sennet, a member of the Barracuda family, has been linked to ciguatera poisoning.
  • though clavarioid fungi were originally thought to comprise a single genus, they are now classified in multiple orders and families.
  • the Nephila genus of long-jawed orb weaver family of spiders spins gold-colored webs.
  • the blurred and smooth lanternsharks form a species group distinguished from the rest of their family by the shape and arrangement of their dermal denticles.
  • the biodiversity of New Zealand is dominated by bird families that flew in from Australia and insects, frogs and plants that were on the island when it broke off from Gondwana.
  • some members of the fungal family Orbiliaceae can lasso nematodes using outgrowths of their hyphae.
  • Prionochilus is one of the two genera that comprise the flowerpecker family Dicaeidae (Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker pictured).
  • Pareuchiloglanis catfishes can be distinguished from other members of the Sisoridae family only by their premaxillary tooth bands.
  • the daisy-like Sydney flannel flower (pictured) is actually a member of the carrot family.
  • the family Caponiidae is unique among spiders because its members usually have two eyes.
  • the stink-bug Nezara viridula can feed on plants from over 30 families, but its preference for legumes, such as beans and soybeans, make it an economically important pest on crops.
  • the genus Melampitta is a taxonomic mystery, having been considered at one time either belonging to the pitta, babbler, logrunner, bird of paradise, or cinclosomatid families.
  • beetles of the Belinae subfamily prefer feeding on wood of diseased or dying plants to healthy ones.
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