CH:1- THE LIVING WORLD
Characteristics of Living Organisms:
Growth- In plants growth happens throught out the life time, Unicellular- cell division. Increase in body mass, This
is exhibited by non living organisms.
Reproduction- Fungus – spores, Lower plants- fragmentation, Planaria- fragmented cell regenerate, Amoeba-
fission. There are many organism cannot reproduce- Mule, worker honey bee, Non living organism replicate itself.
Metabolism- Biological actions – The sum total of all chemical reactions occur in our body,
Cellular organization - ,
Self Consciousness - ability to sense environment,
Self-replicating and Self regulation- interactive system capable of responding to external stimuli. Molecular level-
organ level
Reproduction and growth are NOT defining properties. (in unicellular organism the increase in number of
cells is considered as growth as well reproduction)
Metabolism, cellular organization, and consciousness are defining properties.
Nomenclature: “system of naming organisms”. standardize the naming of living organism such that a particular
organism is known by the name all over the world. Region, Place
Identification: nomenclature or naming is only possible when the organism is described correctly and we known to
what organism the name is attached to.
Need for classification:
To organize the vast number of plants and animals into categories that could be named, remembered, studied
and understood.
Rules for Nomenclature:
Latinized names are used, written in italics - Mangifera indica (Mango india)
First word represents the genus, second word is species name.
First word starts with capital letter while species name written in small letter.
Printed in italics;
If handwritten then underline separately. Mangifera indica
Common name Scientific name
Honey Bee Apis
Pigeon Columba livia
Human Homo sapiens
Ant Formicidae
Arabian camel Camelus dromedarius
African elephant Loxodonta
Albatross Diomedeidae
Alpaca Vicugna pacos
Asian Elephant Elephas maximus
Bat Chiroptera
Bird Aves
Brown Tree Snake Boiga irregularis
Gaur Bos gaurus
Goat Capra aegagrus hircus
Bear Ursidae
Polar bear Ursus maritimus
Sun bear Helarctos malayanus
Blackbuck Antilope cervicapra
Black rat Rattus rattus
Buffalo Bubalus bubalis
Bulbul Pycnonotidae
Butterfly Rhopalocera
Cat Felis catus
Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus
Chinkara Gazella bennettii
Cobra Naja
Cockroach Blattodea
Common Myna Acridotheres tristis
Cow Bos taurus
Crocodile Crocodylus palustris
Deer Cervidae
Dog Canis lupus familiaris
Dolphin Cetacea
Eagle Accipitridae
Elephant Elephantidae
fish Vertebrata
Red fox Vulpes vulpes
Gavial or Gharial Gavialis gangeticus
Giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis
Great horned owl Bubo virginianus
Hen Gallus gallus domesticus
Hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius
Horse Equus caballus
House crow Corvus splendens
Housefly Musca domestica
House mouse Mus musculus
House sparrow Passer domesticus
House wall Lizard Hemidactylus flaviviridis
Indian Cobra Naja naja
parrot Psittaciformes
Indian Python Python molurus
Kashmir stag or hangul Cervus canadensis hanglu
King cobra Ophiophagus hannah
Koel Eudynamys scolopaceus
Leopard or panther Panthera pardus
Monkey Simiiformes (infraorder)
Mosquito Culicidae
Lion Panthera leo
Lizard Squamata
Nilgai Boselaphus tragocamelus
Peacock Pavo cristatus
Pig Sus
Prawn Dendrobranchiata
Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus
Rat Rodentia
Rat snake Ptyas mucosa
Rattle snake Crotalinae
Rhesus monkey Macaca mulatta
Rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis
Sea snake Hydrophiinae
Sheep Ovis aries
Siberian crane Grus leucogeranus
Snakehead Channidae
Sparrow Passer domesticus
Spider Araneae
Starfish Asteroidea
Who propose the name for the organisms?
ICZN: International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (for giving scientific name to animals.) National University of
Singapore, Singapore
ICBN: International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (for giving scientific name to plants.) The formal starting date
of plant nomenclature is 1 May 1753, it is the publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus (the name was changed
at the International Botanical Congress in Melbourne in July 2011)- International codes of biological
nomenclature.
Taxonomy: Study of principles and procedures of classification.
Binomial Nomenclature: Given by Carolus Linnaeus. Each scientific name has two components - Generic name +
Specific epithet.
Systematics: It deals with classification of organisms based on their diversities and relationships among them. Term
was proposed by Carolus Linnaeus who wrote ‘Systema Naturae’.
Taxonomic Hierarchy: Arrangement of various steps (categories or taxa Species → Genus → Family → Order →
Class → Phylum (for animals) /Division (for plants) Kingdom.
Species: All the members that can interbreed among themselves and can produce fertile offsprings are the
members of same species. This is the bio-logical concept of species proposed by Mayer.
Genus: biological classification ranking, consisting of structurally or phylogenetically related species or a single
isolated species exhibiting unusual differentiation.
Family: A taxonomic group of one or more genera, especially sharing a common attribute.
Order: comprised of families sharing a set of similar nature or character.
Class refers to plant classification
Phylum is referred in animal classification systems
Three Domains of Life: Proposed by Carl Woese in 1990 who also proposed the six kingdom classification for living
organisms. The three Do-mains are Archaea, Eubacteria and Eukarya.
Taxonomical Aids:
1. It helps in the study of plants and animals and is used in agriculture, forestry, industry etc.
2. Taxonomical aids are the samples or collection of samples of preserved organisms that help in the research
of taxonomic hierarchy
Herbarium: Storehouse of dried, pressed and preserved plant specimen on sheets.-
The biggest herbarium of our country is at the Indian Botanic Garden, Calcutta, possessing about one million
specimens.
The herbarium of the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun has about 3, 00,000 specimens.
The herbarium of the Division of Botany at I.A.R.I. New Delhi, contains about 3000 specimens.
Botanical Garden: Collection of living plants for reference. 35 gardens
Zoological Park (Places where wild animals are kept in protected environment.)
18 Zoos In India –The Arignar Anna Zoological Park is the largest zoo in India which houses about 2,553 species of flora and
fauna across 1,265 acres and is the largest zoological garden in India
Keys (Used for identification of plant and animals on the basis of similarities and dissimilarities.)
Fauna: (Index to animal species found in a particular area)
Flora (Index to plant species found in a particular area.)
Manuals (Provide information for identification of name of species in an area.)
Monograph (Contain information on one taxon.)
