BSC 2011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Chlorophyll, Red Algae, Heterotroph

• School: University of Florida
• Department: Biology - Biological Sciences
• Course: BSC 2011
• Professor: Douglas, Norman A

Document Summary

Ancestral trait: shared by all the organisms in question including the outgrip. Shared, derived traits: also known as synapomorphies, are traits that are shared by a selected group of organisms. Taxon: any group of species that we designate with a name. Clade: group that consist of all the evolutionary descendants of a common ancestor (monophyletic) Photosynthesis (take in carbon dioxide and water, gives off glucose and oxygen) Cyanobacteria (prokaryotes) were the original photosynthetic organisms that allowed for the accumulation of co2 in the atmosphere and eventually the creation of the ozone layer. They can also break down nitrogen gas in the atmosphere and use the individual nitrogen atoms to make necessary amino acids and other uses. Oxygenic photosynthesis drastically influenced the course of evolutionary history on earth. Oxygen rich atmosphere favored organisms that could withstand and utilize oxygen and killed most of the anaerobic species on earth since they were poisonous to o2.