The Living World 3 Flashcards
What is the meaning of species
Species is a group of organisms with similar chracteristics whiich in turn allows them to interbreed with each other.One should be able to distinguish
one species from the other closely related species based on the distinct
morphological differences. Mangifera indica, Solanum
tuberosum (potato) and Panthera leo (lion). All the three names, indica,
tuberosum and leo, represent the specific epithets, while the first words
Mangifera, Solanum and Panthera are genera and represents another
higher level of taxon or category. Each genus may have one or more than
one specific epithets representing different organisms, but having
morphological similarities.
What is the meaning of genus
Genus comprises a group of related species which has more characters
in common in comparison to species of other genera. We can say that
genera are aggregates of closely related species.
Lion (Panthera leo), leopard (P. pardus) and tiger (P. tigris) with several
common features, are all species of the genus Panthera.
what is the meaning of familty
y, Family, has a group of related genera with still less
number of similarities as compared to genus and species. Families are
characterised on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of
plant species but reproductive or sexual or floral characters are
used mainly.. Among plants for example, three different genera Solanum,
Petunia and Datura are placed in the family Solanaceae. Among animals
for example, genus Panthera, comprising lion, tiger, leopard is put along
with genus, Felis (cats) in the family Felidae
what is the meaning of order
Order being a higher category, is the assemblage of families
which exhibit a few similar characters. The similar characters are less in
number as compared to different genera included in a family. Plant
families like Convolvulaceae, Solanaceae are included in the order
Polymoniales mainly based on the floral/sexual/reproductive characters. The animal order,
Carnivora, includes families like Felidae and Canidae.
what is the meaning of class
This category includes related orders. For example, order Primata
comprising monkey, gorilla and gibbon is placed in class Mammalia along
with order Carnivora that includes animals like tiger, cat and dog.
What is the meaning of phylum/division
It is a group of related classes. All fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals have a notochord and a dorsal hollow neural system and hence belong to the phylum chordata. Classes with few similar characteristics are assigned ot a higher category called divison
What is the meaning of kingdom
All animals belonging to various phyla are assigned to the
highest category called Kingdom Animalia in the classification
system of animals. The Kingdom Plantae, on the other hand, is
distinct, and comprises all plants from various divisions.
kingdom is a group of related phyla/divisions.
