Classifying species. (Chart Reading Skills).When Joe Slowinski found the Burmese spitting cobra spit·ting cobra n. See ringhals. Noun 1. spitting cobra - aggressive cobra widely distributed in Africa; rarely bites but spits venom that may cause blindness black-necked cobra, Naja nigricollis , he suspected it was a new species because it didn't look like other spitting cobras. He studied the snake's scales, jaws, teeth, fangs, and overall appearance, and found that he had indeed stumbled upon an unknown reptile. So Slowinski got naming rights Naming rights are the right to name a piece of property, either tangible property or an event, usually granted in exchange for financial considerations. Institutions like schools, places of worship and hospitals have a tradition of granting donors the right to name facilities in . While the Burmese spitting cobra is the snake's common name, to name the species scientifically, Slowinski used a classification process. He placed the snake into a series of increasingly specific categories. He first grouped it together with distant relatives, and then its family, and eventually, its species. This science of classification is called Taxonomy. Check out the taxonomy table for the Burmese spitting cobra--Naja mandalayensis--below.
COMMON NAME: BURMESE SPITTING COBRA
CLASSIFICATION EXPLANATION
Kingdom: Animalia Cobras are members of the animal kingdom.
Phylum *: Chordata Animals in the chordata phylum have spinal
cords.
Class: Reptilia Reptiles lay eggs and have horny or scaly
skin.
Order: Squamata Squamata are scale-covered reptiles such as
lizards and snakes.
Family: Elapidae The elapid family: poisonous snakes with round
pupils, fast-acting neurotoxic venom and a
pair of short, fixed fangs in the front of the
upper jaw.
Genus: Naja Genus: a group of species that are related but
cannot interbreed.
Species: mandalayensis Species: a group of related individuals that
can mate and produce offspring.
* called Division in plants
Study the classification chart, above, and review "Deadly Snake Hunt" (p. 10) and "Meet the Elapids" miniposter (pp. 14-15). Then answer the following questions using complete sentences. 1. What family do the snakes on the miniposter belong to? what order? what class? 2. Do all elapids belong to the same kingdom, phylum phylum, in taxonomy: see classification. , and class? why? 3. What genus does the green mamba Noun 1. green mamba - green phase of the black mamba black mamba, Dendroaspis augusticeps - a highly venomous southern African mamba dreaded because of its quickness and readiness to bite (Dendroaspis angusticeps) belong to? What's the species name? 4. What is the scientific name of the king cobra? 5. Research and create a classification table for the Indian cobra. Keep On Going: Research and create taxomony tables for humans (Homo sapiens Homo sapiens (Latin; “wise man”) Species to which all modern human beings belong. The oldest known fossil remains date to c. 120,000 years ago—or much earlier (c. ), the potato (Solanum Solanum a widespread plant genus of the family Solanaceae which contains a number of valuable crop plants but also some poisonous ones. Poisoning may be due to (1) the presence in the plant of toxic glycoalkaloids which cause diarrhea, (2) alkamines, e.g. tuberosum), and the potato beetle potato beetle, name for two beetles of the leaf beetle family and for two of the blister beetle family, all destructive to the potato plant and its relatives. (Leptinotarsa decemlineata). ANSWERS 1. The snakes belong to the elapid elapid Any of about 200 species of venomous snakes (family Elapidae) that have short fangs fixed in the front of the upper jaw. Elapids are found in the New World, Africa, southern Asia, Pacific Islands, and Australia. family, squamata order, and reptilia Reptilia A class of vertebrates composed of four living orders, the turtles or Chelonia, the tuatara or Sphenodonta, the lizards and snakes or Squamata, and the crocodylians or Crocodylia. Numerous extinct orders are also known. class. 2. Family members are in the same kingdom, phylum, and class. 3. Green mamba's genus is Dendroaspis. Its species name is angusticeps. 4. Ophiophagus hannah is king cobra's scientific name. 5. Table should match the Naja mandalayensis table but with Naja as genus and naja as species. Human being Animalia Chordata Mammalia Primata Hominidae Homo sapiens Potato Plantae Magnoliophyta Magnoliopsida Polemoniales Solanceae Solanum Tuberosum Potato beetle Animalia Arthropoda Insecta Coleoptera Chrysomelidae Leptinotarsa decemlineata |
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