Species Diversity Project
Species Diversity Survey:
To explore species diversity, you will construct a “species list” of 10 different species from the major taxonomic groups. Your list should include two species from each (= total of 10 species) of the following groups: Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protists, and Bacteria.
For each species, you will be required to:
1)
Provide a picture of the species (including the source, photo credit, etc.)
2)
Provide its common name.
3)
Place the species in the correct taxonomic rankings: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and species.
4)
Provide ten interesting characteristics of this species. These characteristics could be anatomical or behavioral. However, five characteristics must be diagnostic in differentiating this species from others in the phylum. You must include your sources of information!
For example:
Photo Credit: Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Common Name: Brown Bullhead
Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Ictaluridae
Genus: Ameiurus (*Note that the Genus is in italics and the first letter is capitalized.)
species: nebulosus (*Note that the species is also in italics, but the first letter is not capitalized.)
Characteristics: 1) black or brown mottling on its gray or tan body, 2) pigmented chin barbells, 3) 21 to 24 anal fin rays, 4) presence of adipose fin, 5) caudal fin with 18-19 rays, 6) adult size of 300 to 460 mm total length, 7) lives in rivers and reservoirs, streams, oxbow lakes, and swamps, 8) feeds on aquatic insect larvae, crayfish, freshwater shrimp, and minnows, 9) nocturnal, and 10) found in the Chattahoochee River drainage. (Sources: Fishes of Alabama and the Mobile Basin and www.fishbase.org)
(*Note that the first five characteristics are diagnostic and can be used to differentiate this fish from other ray-finned fishes in the Class Actinopterygii.)
