Characteristics of Living Things and Taxonomy

Flashcards on the characteristics of living things, taxonomic categories, nomenclature, and taxonomical aids based on lecture notes.

Unicellular

Living organisms that are made up of only one cell such as Amoeba, Chlamydomonas, bacteria, etc.

Multicellular

Organisms made up of many cells. A complex multicellular organism is made up of trillions of cells such as humans, dogs, pine tree, lizard, birds etc.

Autotrophs

Organisms that manufacture their own food by the process of photosynthesis.

Heterotrophs

Organisms that depend on plants and other animals for their food.

Stomata

Tiny pores present mainly on the surface of leaves through which plants exchange gases.

External respiration

The process of breathing i.e., taking in oxygen and giving out carbon dioxide.

Internal respiration

The stage in which oxygen taken in is utilised to produce energy.

Stimuli

Certain changes in the surroundings that cause an organism to respond to them.

Excretion

The process of getting rid of waste materials from the body.

Viviparous animals

Mammals such as humans, cats, dogs etc., which give birth to young ones.

Oviparous animals

Animals such as hens, crocodiles, insects, etc., which produce eggs.

Taxon

Rank is commonly termed as taxon

Species

Individual organisms with fundamental similarities

Genus

Includes closely related species

Taxonomy

Process of classification of living organisms into different taxa

Systematics

Study of systematic classification

Herbarium

Storehouse of plant specimens that are dried, pressed, and preserved on sheets.

Botanical Gardens

Specialized gardens for collecting living plants grown for identification purposes.

Museums

Collection of preserved plant and animal specimens useful for study and reference.

Zoological parks

Protected environments for wild animals providing conditions similar to their natural habitat.

Key

Analytical tool used in identification of plants and animals based on contrasting characters in a pair called couplet.

Binomial Nomenclature

A system of scientifically naming organisms using two terms of Latin words