Principles of taxonomy

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To introduce you to principles of taxonomy as you look at morphological characteristics of sea shells and construct an evolutionary tree.

Directions
Go to the link http://media.hhmi.org/biointeractive/click/shells_online/index.html and work through the lab sorting sea shells based on morphological characteristics to study evolutionary relationships.
Please take notes for your laboratory report. You will add an introduction later. Write a short note describing each step of identifying and selecting snails as you work through the lab. Please take a screen shot of the final drawing showing the evolutionary relationship of all snails listed.
Please answer the following questions:

Why was the scallop among the snails? (HINT: Watch “Dr. Olivera discusses major molluscan groups”)
What additional tests could be used to examine evolutionary relationships among molluscs (snail species)? (HINT: Watch “Dr. Olivera discusses how to classify shells”)
How was the name of different cone snail specied decided? (HINT: Watch the video “Dr. Olivera discusses species names”)
Where are cone snails found and what are their feeding habits? (HINT: Click on snail images on the final evolutionary tree for more information about species).
Describe the evolutionary history of snails (Molluscs). In which eon, era and period did the first snails evolve? (HINT: Textbook, chapter 14.3)
The laboratory report will have a title page (APA format), and an introduction. Summarize the life history of cone snails. List your steps to classify the snails under methods, post the final picture of snail specis under results and discuss limits of morphological classification in the discussion section of the lab report. Suggest additional tests which may clarify cone shell taxonomy. You should also have a reference section, with the textbook and web page listed in APA format.
Save your completed lab report in .rtf, .doc, or .docx format. Name it as “Taxonomy Lab Report_Your Last Name.”
Submit your lab report via the submission link above. Please only submit the completed lab report for grading.
Please review the grading rubric for the assignment for additional details and grade criteria.

 
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