1.

CHARACTERISTICS AND
CLASSIFICATION OF
LIVING ORGANISMS
1.1 CHARACTERISTICS
OF LIVING
ORGANISMS
 MRS GREN
1. Movement: an action by an organism or part of an organism causing a change of
position or place.
2. Respiration: the chemical reactions that break down nutrient molecules in living cells to
release energy for metabolism.
3. Sensitivity: the ability to detect or sense stimuli in the internal or external environment
and to make appropriate responses.
4. Growth: a permanent increase in size and dry mass by an increase in cell number or cell
size or both.
5. Reproduction: the processes that make more of the same kind of organism.
6. Excretion: the removal from organisms of toxic materials, the waste products of
metabolism (chemical reactions in cells including respiration) and substances in excess
of requirements.
7. Nutrition: the taking in of materials for energy, growth and development; plants require
light, carbon dioxide, water and ions; animals need organic compounds, ions and usually
need water.
1.2 CONCEPT & USE OF A CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
 Organisms can be classified into groups by the features that they share.

 Classification systems aim to reflect evolutionary relationships (change of adaptive

features of a population over time, as a result of natural selection).
 Species: organisms which can reproduce successfully and produce fertile offspring.

 Classification is traditionally based on studies of morphology and anatomy.

* Morphology: the overall form, size and shape of their bodies e.g. wings or legs.
* Anatomy: the detailed INTERNAL body structure determined by dissection.
 Binomial system: a system of naming species in which the scientific name of an organism
is made up of two parts showing the genus (starting with a capital letter) and species
(starting with a lower case letter), written in italics when printed (therefore underlined
when written) e.g. Homo sapiens.
 Classification (Def): The scientific method of dividing
organisms into smaller and larger groups, on basis of
their similarities.

Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is the Father of

Systematic Biology. 
He believed he could:
1. Put every organism into a group  (the science of
TAXONOMY)
2. Give every organism a name (the science of
NOMENCLATURE).
In his BINOMIAL SYSTEM, every living organism
has a unique, two-part name:

•The first name is Genus, the second name

is species. 
•Names are written in Latin, printed in italics. 
•The genus always has a capital letter, and the
species always has a small letter.
For examples: 
 THE HIERARCHIAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM:
• All life forms are categorized into a scheme that had 7 categorical terms. 
The biggest group are Kingdom, the smallest one is Species.

Each kingdom is divided into smaller group, which include genus and species.
Organisms can exist in only one group at each level of classification. For example, an
organism can only belong to one kingdom or one genus. 

King Philip Came Over For Good Soup

 KING PHILIP CAME OVER FOR GOOD SOUP
 Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
 Kingdom to Species  Similarity increases
# Importance of DNA Sequence:
 DNA is the chemical from which chromosomes are made.

 Each DNA molecule is made up of strings of smaller molecules containing four bases.

 Biologists compare the sequences of the bases in the DNA of organisms from two
different species.
 The more similar the base sequence, the more closely related the species are to one
another.
 Organisms which share a more recent ancestor have base sequences in DNA that are
more similar than those that share only a distant ancestor.
 The sequences of bases in DNA and of amino acids in proteins are used as a more
accurate means of classification.
•As technology advanced, microscopes, knowledge of biochemistry and eventually DNA
sequencing allowed us to classify organisms using a more scientific approach.
•Studies of DNA sequences of different species show that the more similar the base sequences
in the DNA of two species, the more closely related those two species are (and the more
recent in time their common ancestor is).
•This means that the base sequences in a mammal’s DNA are more closely related to all
other mammals than to any other vertebrate groups.

DNA sequences can show how closely related different species are.
•The sequences above show that Brachinus armiger and Brachinus hirsutus are more closely
related than any other species in the list as their DNA sequences are identical except for the
last-but-one base (B.armiger has a T in that position whereas B.hirsutus has an A).
•As DNA base sequences are used to code for amino acid sequences in proteins, the
similarities in amino acid sequences can also be used to determine how closely related
organisms are.
 Cell Composition & Structure

The cells of all living organisms contain the following:

• Cytoplasm
• Cell membrane
• DNA as genetic material (either found in the nucleus or free in the cytoplasm)

When viewed under an electron microscope (at a much higher magnification), all cells
also contain the following:

• Ribosomes for protein synthesis

• Enzymes for respiration (in many, but not all types of cells, found in mitochondria)
A typical animal cell and plant cell A typical bacterial cell
Invertebrates
THE FIVE KINGDOMS
• The first division of living things in the classification
system is to put them into one of five kingdoms. They are:
• Animals
• Plants
• Fungi
• Protoctists
• Prokaryotes
5 KINGDOMS
1. Animal • Multicellular
• Cells contain a nucleus
• no cell wall or chloroplasts
• heterotrophic feeders (feed on
organic substances made by other
living things) 

• Examples: all multicellular animals,

including: jellyfish, worms,
arthropods, molluscs,
echinoderms, fish, amphibia,
reptiles, birds and mammals
2. Plant • Multicellular
• Cells contain a nucleus
• have cell walls and chloroplast
• autotrophic feeders. (they all feed by
photosynthesis)

• Examples: all green plants, including:

algae, ferns and mosses (plants that do
not produce seeds), conifers and
flowering plants (plants that do
produce seeds)
3. Fungi • Multicellular
• have nuclei and cell walls
• do not have chlorophyll
• do not photosynthesize but feed by
saprophytic (on dead or decaying
material) or parasitic (on live
material) nutrition

• Examples: moulds, mushrooms, yeast

4. Protoctist • Usually unicellular but
some are multicellular
• with a nucleus

• Examples: amoeba and

paramecium
5.Prokaryotes • Unicellular
• Have cell walls and cytoplasm
• with no true nucleus or
mitochondria.

• Examples: bacteria and blue-

green algae
KINGDOMS
 Animal: Multi-cellular ingestive heterotrophs (eat living organisms)

 Plant: Multi-cellular photosynthetic autotrophic (make their own food) organism

with a cellulose cell wall.
 Fungi: Single celled or multi cellular heterotrophic organism

with cell wall not made of cellulose,

spread by spreading of spores in moist/dark/warm environment.
saprotrophs (feed off dead organisms) or parasites.
 Prokaryotes: Single celled organism with no true nucleus

 Protoctist: Single celled organism with a nucleus.

VERTEBRATES: MR FAB

1. Mammals
2. Reptiles
3. Fish
4. Amphibians
5. Birds
 Vertebrates
All vertebrates have a backbone. There are 5 classes of vertebrates:
 MAMMALS
 Fur/hair on skin
 Can live on land and in water
 4 limbs
 Lungs to breathe
 they can maintain their body temperature (homeostasis), warm
blooded
 Mammals reproduce by internal fertilisation and they give birth
to live young (they are viviparous).
 Eg: Squirrels are mammals
REPTILES:
 Scales on skin
 Usually 4 legs
 Lungs to breathe
 Hard eggs
 Cold blooded (poikilothermic), their body temperature varies
according to their surroundings.
 However, reptiles reproduce by internal fertilisation and lay eggs.
 Eg: Snakes, crocodiles
FISH:
 Wet scales
 external fertilisation and lay eggs (they are oviparous).
 Gills to breathe
 Their body temperature varies according to their surroundings
(poikilothermic).
 Tuna, goldfish
AMPHIBIANS:
 Smooth, moist skin
 External fertilization and soft eggs
 Gills/lungs to breathe so can live on land and in water
 4 legs
 Their body temperature also varies according to their
surroundings (poikilothermic).
 Eg: Frogs
BIRDS
 Feathers on body and scales on legs
 Have 2 legs and 2 wings
 Lungs to breathe
 Hard eggs
 They can maintain their body temperature (organisms that do
this are called homoiothermic).
 reproduce by internal fertilisation and lay eggs.
 Eg: sparrow, dove
INVERTEBRATES
• One of the morphological characteristics used to classify invertebrates is whether they have legs or not.

• All invertebrates with jointed legs are part of the phylum Arthropods.

• They are classified further into the following classes:

ARTHROPODS (INVERTEBRATES WITH
JOINTED LEGS)
IMAC

1. Insects: (e.g. bees)

2. Myriapods: (e.g. centipede)
3. Arachnids: (e.g. spiders)
4. Crustaceans: (e.g. crabs)
INSECTS:
 3 body segments – head,
thorax and abdomen
 3 pairs of legs
 1 pair of antennae
 1 or 2 pairs of wings
 1 pair of Compound eyes
 MYRIAPODS:

 One pair of antennae

 10+ pairs of legs – 1 or 2
pairs on each segment
 Fused head and thorax and
segmented abdomen
 Simple eyes
ARACHNIDS:
 2 body segment – cephalothorax
and abdomen
 Four pairs of legs
 Pair of chelicerae to hold prey
(biting and poisoning prey)
 Simple eyes
 CRUSTACEANS:
 Have an exoskeleton
 1 pair of compound eyes
 2 body segment – cephalothorax
and abdomen
 More than four pairs of legs
 2 pairs of antennae sensitive to
touch and chemicals
 PLANTS

 Ferns:

 They are plants with roots, stems and leaves.

 Have leaves called fronds.

• Do not produce flowers but instead reproduce by spores

(sporangia contains spores) produced on the underside of
fronds.
Flowering plants:
Feature Monocotyledon Dicotyledon
 They are plants with roots, stems
and leaves. Leaf shape Long and narrow Broad
 Reproduce sexually by means of
flowers and seeds. Leaf veins Parallel Reticulated/
Branching
 Seeds are produced inside the
ovary in the flower. Root Fibrous Tap roots

 Divided into 2 groups:

Cotyledons One Two
1. Monocotyledon
Grouping of flower
2. Dicotyledon parts (petals, Threes Fives
sepals and carpels)
Bacteria:
 Single celled organisms (0.01mm)

 Cells do not contain a nucleus, but have a small

piece of circular DNA instead (a bacterial
chromosome).
 No nuclear membrane.

 Most bacteria are saprophytes.

 Some have flagella for mobility.

Examples:
Lactobacillius bulgaricus (a rod-shaped bacterium
used in the production of yoghurt from milk)
Streptococcus pneumoniae (a spherical bacterium
that causes Pneumonia)
 Viruses:

 Much smaller than bacteria (0.1µm). They are not made from cells.

 They do not feed, respire, excrete or grow.

 Totally parasitic and reproduce inside host cells.

 They infect every type of living cell.

Structure:
 The Envelope is used to gain entry into host cells.

 The Capsid is a protein coat and is used to protect the genetic

information and give the virus structure.
 The DNA or RNA (a different type of nucleic acid) contain the code
for building new viruses.
Examples:
Tobacco Mosaic Virus and the Influenza virus (which causes ‘flu).
DICHOTOMOUS KEY

 A dichotomous key is a biological tool for identifying

unknown organisms to some taxonomic level (e.g.,
species, genus, family, etc.).
 It is constructed of a series of couplets, each consisting of
two statements describing characteristics of a particular
organism or group of organisms.