Living World

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Key Takeaways

Living vs non-living 1

2 Reproduction

Metabolism 3

4 Nomenclature

Taxonomy 5
© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved
 Systematics 6

7 Taxonomic categories

Taxonomic aids 8

Summary

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Living vs Non-living

● Growth is the increase in size, mass or height of an organism. This occurs

by cell division.
● Animals grow only up to a certain age. In the later years, there is only
replacement and repair of worn out cells. Hence their growth is termed
definite.
● Plants, on the other hand, can grow throughout their lifetime. Thus, the
word indefinite is used for growth in case of plants.
o For example: The Great Banyan Tree in AJC Bose Indian Botanical
Garden in West Bengal is 250 years old and is spread across 14,500 m2 .

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Living vs Non-living

● In unicellular organisms, growth and reproduction are synonymous.

● In plants and animals, growth and reproduction are two separate
phenomena.
● Living organisms grow due to addition from inside, also called intrinsic
growth. Growth can be extrinsic too as seen in non-living matter by the
accumulation of material on the surface.
o Sand dunes and glaciers are good examples of extrinsic growth.
● Growth is a property of living beings but cannot be considered as a
defining characteristic of living beings.

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Reproduction

● Production of new individual organisms or offspring by their parents

● Not essential for survival of individual but essential for the survival of a
species
Types of reproduction

Asexual reproduction Sexual reproduction

Does not involve the fusion of
gametes
Offspring identical to the
parent
Asexual reproduction is
uniparental
Involves the fusion of gametes
Offspring varies genetically
from the parents
Sexual reproduction is
generally biparental

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Asexual Reproduction
Spore formation in fungi
● Fungi multiply and spread easily
due to the millions of asexual
spores they produce.
● These are quite resistant
structures and do not damage
easily.
Budding in yeast
● New individuals form from
outgrowths (buds) on the bodies
of mature organisms.
● Examples : Yeast and Hydra
© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved
Regeneration in flatworms
● Fragmented parts of
organism regenerate the lost
part of their body and
becomes new organism.
Binary fission in bacteria
● Most common form of
reproduction in prokaryotes and a
few unicellular eukaryotes.
● Example: Bacteria and Amoeba.
 Metabolism

Catabolism Anabolism
 Sum total of all the
chemical reactions
Smaller units
occurring in a
Energy coordinated manner
Molecules to support life is
called metabolism.
Energy  Occurs in both
unicellular and
Molecules multicellular
Smaller units
organisms.
Catabolism Anabolism  Non- living objects do
 Molecules are broken down  Energy is utilised to not perform
and energy is released combine smaller metabolic processes.
 E.g. - breakdown of food molecules to yield larger,
during digestion. more complex
molecules.
 E.g. – photosynthesis.
© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved
 Important Points

Reproduction Metabolism

 All living beings cannot reproduce  Chemical reactions performed in a test

○ Infertile couple : Inability of a couple tube are neither living nor non-living.
to become pregnant and produce an  Metabolic reactions performed outside
offspring. can be referred to as living reactions but
○ Worker bee : Amongst a swarm of not living things.
bees, the worker bee is sterile while
only the queen bee is fertile.
○ Mule : Cross between male donkey
and female horse; doesn’t produce
gametes.
 Hence, reproduction is not a
differentiating character between living
and nonliving organisms.

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Cellular Organisation

 All living beings are made up of cells.

○ Cells aggregate to form tissues
which in turn aggregate to form
organs.
 Each cell, further, consists of several System
Organ
organelles.
 Organelles interact with each other for
the proper functioning of the cell. It is a Organism
very organised process. Tissue
 Each organelle may be involved in
individual function. The functions
performed by cells are a result of Cell
cumulative activities of all the organelles.
 Thus, cellular organisation is a defining
property of living beings.

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Consciousness

 It is the state of awareness of the surroundings and response to

external stimuli.
 Examples are:
○ Sense organs
○ Photoperiod
 All cells (prokaryotes to eukaryotes) respond to external factors.
○ Example: Folding of leaves in Mimosa pudica (Lajwanti or chhui-
mui) occurs due to external stimulus of touch.
 Consciousness is a defining property of living organisms.

Note
Human beings in coma have no self-consciousness. They are
supported by machines. Some come back to normal life, some don't. It
is difficult to define the living state in such cases, living or non-living or
dead.

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Nomenclature

 About 1.7 - 1.8 million species on Earth have been

identified and described.
 Biodiversity is the term used to describe the enormous
variety of life on Earth.
 Identification is the process by which the features or
characteristics of an organism are known, so that one can
identify the organism in any part of the world.
 Identified organisms are named in accordance with a
standard procedure, accepted all across the world. This is
called nomenclature.

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Nomenclature

Binomial nomenclature

 Most accepted system

 Given by Carolus Linnaeus
○ Known for two works, namely Species Plantarum (1753) for
plants and Systema Naturae (1758)
○ In Systema Naturae, using the binomial nomenclature system,
Carolus named 4,400 animal species and 7,700 plant species
○ Two terms are used to denote a species of living organism in
this system:
■ Generic name - E.g. - Mangifera
■ Specific epithet - E.g. - indica
o Eg: Mangifera indica (Mango)

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Nomenclature

Uses
 Single scientific name to replace multiple vernacular names.
 Description of any organism enables people to arrive at the same name.
 Ensures that a name has not been used for more than one known organism.

Rules of binomial nomenclature

 Biological names are generally in Latin. They are Latinised or derived
from Latin irrespective of their origin.
 The first word in a biological name represents the genus while the
second component denotes the specific epithet.
 Both the words in a biological name, when handwritten, are separately
underlined, or printed in italics to indicate their Latin origin.
 The first word denoting the genus starts with a capital letter while the
specific epithet starts with a small letter.
o E.g. : Mangifera indica
© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved
 Nomenclature

 There are 2 major codes for naming organisms:

○ International Code for Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) for
naming plants.
○ International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) for
naming animals.

Note
 Animal species having the same name for both genus
and species are known as tautonyms.
 Examples : Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo), European
grass snake (Natrix natrix).

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Taxonomy

 Scientists have grouped organisms into convenient categories based on

their characters. This process is called classification of organisms.
 Taxon is a group of one or more populations of an organism or
organisms. It can refer to any category in the hierarchy of classification
system.
 Taxonomy is the branch of study that deals with principles and
procedures of identification, characterisation, classification and
nomenclature of organisms.
 Based on characteristics living organisms can be classified into different
taxa.
 Earliest classifications were based on the ‘uses’ of various organisms
such as,
a. Basic needs of food - small animals like rabbit, deer, carrot, apple.
b. Clothing - hides of animals, leaves from trees.
c. Shelter - coconut leaves, bamboo, etc - to build homes.
 Earliest classification system was not very efficient.
© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved
 Taxonomy

Basis of modern classification:

External Structure of
characteristics cell

Ecological
Development
information of
process
organisms

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Taxonomy

Steps involved in modern taxonomy

a. Characterization - morphological and all other characters

are described
b. Identification - determining similarities with already
known organisms
c. Classification - placing the organism under a particular
taxa or category
d. Nomenclature - giving a proper scientific name

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Systematics

 Systematics is the study of Specimen

evolutionary relationships among
organisms.
 Derived Latin word ‘systema’ which Taxonomy Classification
means the systematic arrangement (Description) (Arrangement)
of organisms.
 Study of one organism gives
information about the whole group. Nomenclature (Naming)
 Taxonomy, systematics and
classification are often used
synonymously but technically are
not the same. Morphology
(Terminology of parts)

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Taxonomic vs Systematics

Taxonomy Systematics
Process of Includes taxonomy
Definition
classification and nomenclature
Describes
Identify, name, evolutionary
Importance
describe organisms relationships among
organisms
Abiotic They are indirectly They are directly
conditions related related
Change with Subject to change Does not change
time with time with time

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Taxonomic Categories

SPECIES  It is also called the

GENUS Linnaean hierarchy/
FAMILY taxonomic hierarchy as
ORDER it was first proposed by
CLASS Linnaeus.
 A taxon is a group of
PHYLUM organisms and a
category represents the
KINGDOM rank of the taxon.

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Taxonomic Categories

Kingdom

 It is the highest category of classification in which certain common

fundamental characters are used as the basis of classification.
 For example: Kingdom Animalia comprises organisms that are
multicellular, heterotrophic and eukaryotic.

R.H Whittaker came up with a 5 kingdom

classification that is widely accepted today.

Monera Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Taxonomic Categories

Phylum

 A phylum is a category below Kingdom Plantae

Kingdom, where classification is
based on common features.
 Organisms in a phylum share the Division Thallophyta
same set of characteristics which
distinguishes them from another
phylum.
 The same category is called Algae Fungi
division in the Kingdom Plantae.

Sub-division

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Taxonomic Categories
Class
 This is the category below phylum.
 Category between phylum and class
is subphyla.
 For example :
Kingdom animalia > phylum
chordata > subphylum vertebrata
(has notochord) > Class pisces and
aves.
 Human beings fall under the class
Mammalia.
© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved
Order
 This is the category which comes
below class. A group of closely
related orders forms a class.
 For example:
Kingdom animalia > phylum
chordata > subphylum vertebrata
(has notochord) > superclass
tetrapoda (bears limbs) > class
mammalia > order primate or
primates.
 Another example is : Order
Carnivora comprises flesh eating
animals like tiger, cat and dog.
 Taxonomic Categories

Family Species
 This category is below order.
 It is the lowest
 A group of closely related families forms an order. category of
classification and forms
the second word of a
Genus
 It is the category below family and forms the first word scientific name.
of a scientific name.
 Category below family but above genus is a sub-family.
 A group of closely related species forms a genus.
 For example:
Kingdom animalia > phylum chordata > subphylum
vertebrata (has notochord) > superclass tetrapoda
(bears limbs) > class animalia > order primate > family
hominidae > sub family hominidae > genus homo

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Taxonomic Categories

Example of taxonomic categorisation Benefits of taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia  Categorisation of organisms for

ease of study.
Phylum Chordata  Compares similarities and
differences between organisms.
Sub Phylum Vertebrata  Shows evolutionary relationships.
 Same name is used for an
Class Mammalia organism worldwide
 Knowledge of bioresources and
Order Primate their diversity

Family Hominidae

Genus Homo

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Taxonomical Aids

Herbarium Botanical garden

 It is a collection of plant  They are specialised gardens
specimens that are dried, pressed with collections of living
and preserved on sheets. plants.
 Plant species are also grown
 The description on the sheet:
for identification purposes.
a. Date and place of collection
 Plant is labelled indicating :
b. English, local and botanical
1. Botanical/scientific name
names 2. Family
c. Family name
d. Collector’s name
 It is a repository for future use.

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Taxonomical Aids
Museums
 Collections of preserved plant
and animal specimens
 Specimens are used for study
and reference.
 Generally, set up in educational
institutes
 Specimens are preserved in
the containers with
preservative solutions.
© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved
Zoological parks
 Wild animals are kept in
protected environments under
human care.
 Food habits and behaviours of
the animals are studied.
 The animals are provided with
their natural living conditions.
 Taxonomical Aids
Catalogue
 List which methodically
enumerates all species found
in a particular place is called
catalogue.
Monograph
 Complete global record of a
taxon is called a monograph.
© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved
Manual
 Records that provide information of
species found in an area are called
manuals
Key
 It is a tool that helps to identify an
unknown organism.
 Keys provide two contrasting
characteristics which are called couplets.
 Each statement in the key is called a lead.
 Separate taxonomic keys are required for
each taxonomic category.
 Summary

Types of reproduction

Sexual reproduction Asexual reproduction

Non-identical offspring Identical offspring

Spore formation Budding Binary fission Regeneration

Metabolism

Catabolism Anabolism

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Summary

Characteristics of living organisms

Reproduction Metabolism Cellular organisation Consciousness Growth

5 Kingdom classification

R.H Whittaker came up with a 5 kingdom

classification that is widely accepted today.

Monera Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Summary

Steps of modern taxonomy Taxonomic categories

SPECIES
1.Characterization 3. Classification GENUS
FAMILY
ORDER
2. Identification 4. Nomenclature CLASS
PHYLUM

KINGDOM

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved

 Summary

HERBARIUM KEYS

MONOGRAPH MANUAL

TAXONOMICAL AIDS

MUSEUM CATALOGUE

ZOOLOGICAL PARK BOTANICAL GARDEN

© 2022, Aakash BYJU'S. All rights reserved