DIVERSITY IN THE LIVING WORLD
The number and types of organisms present on earth refer to biodiversity.
Number of species described is 1.7-1.8 million.
Taxonomy is the study of identification, classification & nomenclature of organisms.
Systematics (Latin ‘systema’ = systematic arrangement) deals with evolutionary relationships among organisms.
Systema Naturae is a book written by Linnaeus.
Basic processes of taxonomy
- Characterization: It is the understanding of characters of organisms such as external & internal structure, structure of cell, development process, ecological information etc.
- Identification: It is the correct description of the organism so that the naming is possible.
- Classification: It is the grouping of organisms into convenient categories (taxa) based on characters.
- Nomenclature (naming): It is the standardization of names of the organisms such that an organism is known by the same name all over the world.
The system of naming with two components is called Binomial nomenclature. It is proposed by Linnaeus.
Botanical names are based on the rules in International Code for Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN).
Zoological names are based on International Code for Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).
Universal rules of Binomial nomenclature
Scientific names are in Latin or Latinised and written in italics. When handwritten, they are underlined separately.
The first word is genus name (Generic name) and second word is the species name (specific epithet).
E.g. Homo sapiens- Homo represents the genus name and sapiens represents the species name.
The Genus name starts with capital letter and the species name starts with small letter.
Name of the author (in abbreviated form) appears at the end of the biological name.
E.g., Mangifera indica Linn. It indicates that this species was first described by Linnaeus.
TAXONOMIC CATEGORIES
Classification involves hierarchy of steps in which each step represents a taxonomic category (rank).
All categories together constitute a taxonomic hierarchy.
A group of organisms occupying a particular category is called a taxon (pl. taxa). E.g. Class Mammalia.
Each category or taxon represents a unit of classification.
Taxonomic hierarchy in ascending order
Species: It is a group of closely related organisms capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring.
It is the lowest category. E.g.
Genus: It is an aggregate of closely related species. E.g.
Potato, nightshade & brinjal are species of genus Solanum.
Lion, leopard & tiger are species of genus Panthera. It differs from genus Felis (genus of cats).
Family: It is a group of closely related genera. E.g.
- Genus Solanum, Petunia & Datura belong to Family Solanaceae.
- Genus Panthera & Felis belong to Family Felidae.
Order: It is an assemblage of related families. E.g.
- Families Convolvulaceae & Solanaceae belong to Order Polymoniales.
- Families Felidae & Canidae belong to Order Carnivora.
Class: It is an assemblage of related orders. E.g. Orders Primata, Carnivora etc. belong to class Mammalia.
Phylum (Division in case of plants): It is the assemblage of related classes. E.g. Classes Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves, Mammalia etc. come under phylum Chordata.
Kingdom: The assemblage of related phyla. It is the highest category. E.g. Kingdom Plantae, Kingdom Animalia etc.
Organisms with their taxonomic categories
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