Biology: The Living World

Flashcards covering terminology and fundamental concepts of biological classification, the hierarchy of taxa, and the contributions of Ernst Mayr from the lecture 'The Living World'.

Biology

The science of life forms and living processes.

Ernst Mayr

Harvard University evolutionary biologist ($1904$ – $2004$) known as ‘The Darwin of the $20^{th}$ century’ who pioneered the currently accepted definition of a biological species.

Triple Crown of Biology

The three prestigious prizes awarded to Ernst Mayr: the Balzan Prize ($1983$), the International Prize for Biology ($1994$), and the Crafoord Prize ($1999$).

Biodiversity

The number and types of organisms present on earth, ranging between $1.7-1.8$ million described species.

Nomenclature

The process of standardising the naming of living organisms such that a particular organism is known by the same name all over the world.

Identification

The process of describing an organism correctly so that it is known to what organism a scientific name is attached.

ICBN

International Code for Botanical Nomenclature; the agreed principles and criteria for providing scientific names for plants.

ICZN

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature; the system evolved by taxonomists for naming animals.

Binomial nomenclature

A naming system given by Carolus Linnaeus where each scientific name has two components: the Generic name and the specific epithet.

Generic name

The first word in a biological name representing the genus, which starts with a capital letter.

Specific epithet

The second component of a biological name representing the species, written in small letters.

Mangifera indica Linn.

The scientific name of mango, where 'Linn.' indicates that the species was first described by Linnaeus.

Classification

The process by which organisms are grouped into convenient categories based on easily observable characters.

Taxa

The scientific term for categories used in classification at different levels, such as 'plants', 'mammals', or 'dogs'.

Taxonomy

The process of classification of all living organisms into different taxa based on their characteristics (characterisation, identification, classification, and nomenclature).

Systematics

A branch of study derived from the Latin word ‘systema’ meaning systematic arrangement; it includes identification, nomenclature, classification, and evolutionary relationships between organisms.

Taxonomic Category

A rank or step within the taxonomic hierarchy that represents a unit of classification.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

The overall taxonomic arrangement comprising all categories (ranks) from species up to kingdom.

Species

A group of individual organisms with fundamental similarities; it is the lowest category in the taxonomic hierarchy.

Genus

A category comprising a group of related species that has more characters in common compared to species of other genera.

Family

A category consisting of a group of related genera characterized on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of plant species.

Order

A higher taxonomic category that is an assemblage of families exhibiting a few similar characters.

Class

A taxonomic category that includes related orders, such as order Primata and Carnivora being placed in class Mammalia.

Phylum

A higher taxonomic category for animals based on common features like the presence of a notochord and dorsal hollow neural system.

Division

The taxonomic category used for plants that is equivalent to the Phylum used in animal classification.

Kingdom

The highest category in the taxonomic hierarchy, such as Kingdom Animalia or Kingdom Plantae.

Homo sapiens

The scientific name for human beings, who belong to the genus $Homo$ and the family Hominidae.

Musca domestica

The biological name for the housefly, which belongs to the order Diptera and class Insecta.