Biological Classification – Lecture Overview

Term answer flashcards covering historical and modern biological classification systems, characteristics of the five kingdoms, and key facts about bacteria and their diversity.

Aristotle classified plants into __, __, and __ based on simple morphology.

trees; shrubs; herbs

Aristotle divided animals into those with __ and those without it.

red blood

The Two Kingdom system consisted of Kingdom and Kingdom .

Plantae; Animalia

The Two Kingdom system failed to separate organisms from ones at the cellular level.

prokaryotic; eukaryotic

In 1969, R.H. Whittaker proposed a __ Kingdom classification.

Five

Whittaker’s five kingdoms are __, __, __, __, and __.

Monera; Protista; Fungi; Plantae; Animalia

Whittaker’s criteria included cell structure, body organisation, mode of nutrition, reproduction, and __ relationships.

phylogenetic

All prokaryotic organisms are placed in Kingdom __.

Monera

Organisms with chitinous cell walls and heterotrophic nutrition belong to Kingdom __.

Fungi

Autotrophic, photosynthetic organisms with tissue/organ level organisation are assigned to Kingdom __.

Plantae

The three-domain system divides Kingdom Monera into Domains and (with eukaryotes forming a third domain).

Bacteria; Archaea

Bacterial shapes include coccus, bacillus, spirillum, and __.

vibrio

Archaebacteria that thrive in high-salt environments are called __.

halophiles

Methanogenic archaebacteria in ruminant guts produce __ gas.

methane

Cyanobacteria possess the photosynthetic pigment __, similar to green plants.

chlorophyll a

Specialised nitrogen-fixing cells in certain cyanobacteria are known as __.

heterocysts

The filamentous cyanobacterium __ can fix atmospheric nitrogen.

Nostoc

Bacteria that obtain energy by oxidising inorganic substances such as ammonia are called __ autotrophs.

chemosynthetic

Most decomposer bacteria exhibit __ nutrition.

heterotrophic

__ bacteria are involved in transforming milk into curd.

Heterotrophic