Laboratory 10

Classification of Life

John R. Anderson

Department of Geology, Georgia Perimeter College

Dunwoody, GA 30038

Classification of Life

(unless otherwise noted, the skeleton is of calcium carbonate (calcite or aragonite) and the organism has a benthonic way of life).

Kingdom Monera - prokaryotes, blue-green algae, bacteria, stromatolites (Precam-R)

Kingdom Protoctista (formerly Protista) - one celled organisms, eukaryotic organisms

Phylum Sarcodina (some planktonic)

Order Foraminifera (Cam-R) fusulinids, nummulites, and foraminifera
Order Radiolaria (Cam-R) opaline silica test

Phylum Chrysophyta (Jur. - R)

Class Bacillariophora - Diatoms - silica tests (Cret-R)
Class Coccolithophora - Coccolithophores (E.Jur-R)

Phylum Pyrrhophyta

Class Dinophyceae - Dinoflagellates (Sil-R)

Phylum Ciliophora - paramecium and other cilates.

Phylum Rhodophyta - Red algae

Phylum Phaeophyta - Brown algae - seaweeds and kelps

Phylum Chlorophyta - Green algae - (Proterozoic? - R)

Kingdom Animalia - other wise noted these organism have a calcium carbonate shell

Phylum Porifera - sponges - spongin, calcium carbonate or silicate spicules - radial symmetry, if any. (Cam-R)

Phylum Archaeocyatha - extinct sponge-like organisms (Cam.)

Phylum Cnidaria - (Coelenterata) - septum, calyx, growth lines, tabulae, corallite, corallum, radial symmetry.

Class Hydrozoa
Class Scyphozoa - jellyfish
Class Anthozoa - corals & sea anemones

Subclass Tabulata - honey comb corals (Ord-Perm)
Subclass Rugosa - horn coral (Tetracoral) (Ord-Perm)

Subclass Zoantharia

Order Scleractinia – Hexacorals, modern reef coral, (Trias-R)

Phylum Bryozoa - moss animals (Ord-R) always colonial, zoarium, aperture.

Phylum Brachiopoda (Cam-R) - beak, hinge line, plication, growth line, fold, sulcus, bilateral symmetry, inarticulate or articulate shells, some of phosphatic composition.

Class Inarticulata - calcium phosphatic shell (E.Cam-R)
Class Articulata - teeth and sockets, thick shells (E.Cam-R)

Phylum Mollusca - soft bodied organism

Class Bivalvia - clams, oysters (Pelecypoda) (E.Cam-R), growth line beak, pallial line, pallial sinus, muscle scar, hinge teeth bilateral symmetry parallel with hinge line.
Class Gastropoda - snails, conches (E.Cam-R) aperature, whorl
Class Cephalopoda - octopus, squid (Cam-R), nektonic, suture, septa, chamber, planispiral coil

Subclass Nautiloidea (nautiloids) (Cam-R)
Subclass Ammonoidea (ammonites) (Dev. - Cret.)
Subclass Coleoidea (internal shelled or skeleton cephalopods)

Order Belemnoidea - belemnites (E. Miss. - Eocene)
Order Teuthoidea - squids (Jur. - R)
Order Octopoda - Octopus (Creta.- R)
Order Sepiida – cuttlefish

Phylum Arthropoda - jointed-appendages, segmented, bilateral symmetry, chitin (Cam. - R)

Subphylum Trilobita (Cam-Perm) - axial lobe, pleural lobe, cephalon, thorax, pygidium
Subphylum Chelicerata (Arachnoidea, Merostomata) - horeshoe crab, spiders, scorpions, eurypterids, ticks & mites (Ord-R)

Class Merostomata (Ord. - R)

Order Eurypterida - eurypterids (M. Ord.-Perm)
Order Xiphosura - Horseshoe crabs (Cam-R)

Class Arachnida - scorpions, spiders, ticks, and mites (Sil-R)

Subphylum Crustacea (Cam-R) - ostracods, lobsters, crabs, barnacles

Class Cirripedia - barnacles (Sil-R)
Class Ostracoda - ostracods (Cam-R)
Class Malacostraca - Lobsters, shrimp, crabs

Order Decapoda - Shrimp, Lobsters, crabs, crayfish (Perm. - R)
Order Isopoda - Sow Bugs (Trias. - R)

Subphylum Labiata (Uniramia) (Sil - R)

Class Chilopoda - centipedes (Carb. - R)
Class Diplopoda - millipedes (Sil - R)
Class Insecta - fly, beetle, butterfly, dragonfly, crickets, grasshoppers, etc (E.Dev. - R)

Phylum Echinodermata - 5 fold radial/bilateral symmetry

Class Asteroidea - starfish (Ord-R) mobile, predatious
Class Echinoidea - sand dollar, sea urchin (Ord-R) ambulacral area, interambulacral area, plate
Class Crinoidea - sea lilies (Ord-R) attached, stem, calyx, arms, columnals
Class Blastoidea (Ord-Perm) attached, calyx, plate, ambulacral area

Phylum Hemichordata

Class Graptolithina - graptolites (Camb-Penn)

Phylum Conodontophora (Conodonta) - calcium phosphate, conodonts. (Cam - Late Tria.)

Phylum Chordata

Subphylum Vertebrata - bilateral symmetry, bone and/or cartilage

Class Agnatha - jawless fish (Cam-R)
Class Acanthodii - primative jawed, spiny fish (Dev - Perm)
Class Placodermi - archaic jawed fish (Sil-Perm)
Class Chondrichthyes - shark, skate, ray (Dev-R) cartilagenous fish
Class Osteichthyes - bony fish, crossopterygians (Sil-R)
Class Amphibia - frogs, salamanders, labyrinthodonta (Dev-R)
Class Reptilia - turtle, snake, lizard, alligator, dinosaur (Penn-R)
Class Aves - birds, Archaeopteryx - (Jur) (Trias-R)
Class Mammalia - dog, opossum, man, horse (Trias-R)

Kingdom Plantae - plants soft tissue (Precam-R)

Phylum Charophyta - Stoneworts

Phylum Bryophyta - Liverworts, mosses (Dev. - R)

Phylum Psilophyta - extinct leafless vascular plant(M. Paleozoic)

Phylum Lycophyta (Lycopodophyta) - club mosses, Lycopsids (Sil. - R)

Phylum Sphenophyta (Equisetophyta, Arthrophyta) - horsetails and sphenopsids, (Dev. - R)

Phylum Filicinophyta (Polypodiophyta) - true ferns, Pteropsids (Dev. - R)

Phylum Pinophyta - gymnosperms, conifers, cycads, many evergreens

Class Lyginopteriodopsida - seed ferns, (Dev. - Jur.)
Class Cycadopsida - cycads, (Trias. - R)
Class Ginkgoopsida - maidenhair tree, (Penn. - R)
Class Pinopsida - conifers, (Dev.? - R)
Class Gnetophyta - (Perm. - R)

Phylum Anthophyta (Magnoliophyta) - flowering plants, angiosperms (Cret. - R)

Class Magnoliopsida - dicotyledonous plants - roses, sunflowers, maples, pumpkins, grapes, peas, and other flowering plants (Cret. - R)
Class Liliopsida - monocotyledonous plants bananas, cattails, coconut palm, grasses, maize, crocus (Cret. - R)

Kingdom Fungi - mushrooms, fungus, soft tissue (?-R)

Phylum Myxomycophyta - slime molds

Phylum Eumycophyta - true fungi

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This document last revised November 29, 2004