The Living World - Biology class 11th

Flashcards based on the chapter 'The Living World' from Biology textbook, focusing on key concepts like diversity, nomenclature, classification, and taxonomic categories.

What is biology?

The science of life forms and living processes.

What does the living world comprise?

An amazing diversity of living organisms.

What was a common feature of inanimate and animate objects to early man?

A sense of awe or fear.

What did the description of living organisms lead to?

Detailed systems of identification, nomenclature, and classification.

What was a major recognition from the systematic description of life forms?

The sharing of similarities among living organisms both horizontally and vertically.

What did the revelation of all present day organisms being related lead to?

Cultural movements for conservation of biodiversity.

Who is considered the 'Darwin of the 20th century'?

Ernst Mayr

In what fields did Ernst Mayr's research span?

Ornithology, taxonomy, zoogeography, evolution, systematics, and the history and philosophy of biology.

What is Ernst Mayr credited with making the central question of evolutionary biology?

The origin of species diversity.

What definition did Mayr pioneer?

The currently accepted definition of a biological species.

What are the three prizes widely regarded as the triple crown of biology?

The Balzan Prize, the International Prize for Biology, and the Crafoord Prize.

What does biodiversity refer to?

The number and types of organisms present on Earth.

What is nomenclature?

The standardisation of naming living organisms.

What is identification in biology?

Knowing to what organism the name is attached to.

Where are the scientific names for plants provided?

International Code for Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN).

Where are the scientific names for animals provided?

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).

What does binomial nomenclature refer to?

A naming system with two components: the Generic name and the specific epithet.

Who gave the binomial nomenclature system?

Carolus Linnaeus

In Mangifera indica, what does Mangifera represent?

The genus.

In Mangifera indica, what does indica represent?

A particular species, or a specific epithet.

What language are biological names generally in?

Latin.

How should handwritten biological names be indicated?

Separately underlined.

How does the first word denoting the genus start?

With a capital letter.

How does the specific epithet start?

With a small letter.

What does 'Linn.' indicate in Mangifera indica Linn.?

That this species was first described by Linnaeus.

What is classification?

The process by which anything is grouped into convenient categories based on some easily observable characters.

What is the scientific term for categories used to study organisms?

Taxa.

What are the processes that are basic to taxonomy?

Characterisation, identification, classification and nomenclature.

What is systematics?

The study of the relationships among organisms.

What does the word 'systema' mean?

Systematic arrangement of organisms.

What did Linnaeus use as the title of his publication?

Systema Naturae.

What does systematics take into account?

Evolutionary relationships between organisms.

What is a taxonomic category?

A part of overall taxonomic arrangement.

What do all categories together constitute?

The taxonomic hierarchy.

What is the lowest category for all organisms?

Species.

What is the basic requirement to place an organism in various categories?

The knowledge of characters of an individual or group of organisms.

What is considered as a species in taxonomic studies?

A group of individual organisms with fundamental similarities.

What does the genus comprise?

A group of related species which has more characters in common in comparison to species of other genera.

What is the next category after genus?

Family.

How are families characterised among plants?

On the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of plant species.

What is an order in taxonomic categories?

The assemblage of families which exhibit a few similar characters.

What does a class include in taxonomic categories?

Related orders.

What constitutes the phylum?

Classes comprising animals like fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds along with mammals.

What is the higher category for plants instead of phylum?

Division.

What is the highest category in the classification system of animals?

Kingdom Animalia.

What is the highest category in the classification system of plants?

Kingdom Plantae.

What happens to the number of common characteristics as we go higher from species to kingdom?

The number of common characteristics goes on decreasing.

What are the basics of taxonomy useful for?

Agriculture, forestry, industry and in general for knowing our bio-resources and their diversity.

What is used to assign a correct scientific name to an organism?

The binomial system of nomenclature.

What is the term for categories/ranks in the system of classification?

Taxonomic categories or taxa.