Notes on Classification
Subject: Biology
Teacher: Anika Tabassum
Classification: Classification is the process of arranging organisms, both living and extinct, into groups based on similar
characteristics.
Taxonomy: The science of naming and classifying organisms is called taxonomy.
Binomial system: It is an internationally agreed system of naming an organism: It used two parts to name and organism –
genus and species.
Each group in biological classification—that is, each level in the hierarchy—is called a taxon (plural, taxa).The most basic
taxon is the species, a group of closely related organisms that can breed and produce offspring that in turn can reproduce
Organisms are placed into these categories based on similarities or common characteristics. Some of the characteristics
that are used to determine placement are cell type, nutrient acquisition, and reproduction. The two main cell types are
prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
Common types of nutrient acquisition include photosynthesis, absorption, and ingestion. Types of reproduction include
asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction.
Carolus Linnaeus first came up with a two-kingdom classification, which included only kingdom Plantae and kingdom
Animalia. R.H. Whittaker proposed the five-kingdom classification in 1969. This classification was based upon certain
characters like mode of nutrition, thallus organization, cell structure, phylogenetic relationships and reproduction.
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The classification system commonly used today is based on the Linnean system and has eight levels of taxa; from the most
general to the most specific, these are domain, kingdom, phylum (plural, phyla), class, order, family, genus (plural, genera),
and species. The domain is the highest level of organization and is the largest group.
DOMAIN
The domain is the highest rank in biological classification. There are three domains—Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.
KINGDOM
Before the domain taxon was introduced during the 1990s, the kingdom ranked as the highest taxonomic level in
classification. Most scientists today recognize six kingdoms: Archaea (prokaryotes with distinct cellular characteristics that
adapt them to extreme environments, such as deep-sea vents and hot springs); Bacteria (prokaryotes that are not archaeans);
Protista (chiefly protozoa and algae); Fungi (mushrooms, molds, and yeasts); Plantae (plants); and Animalia (animals). The
Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia all belong to the domain Eukarya.
PHYLUM
Organisms are classified in a phylum or division based largely on general body plan. For example, members of the Phylum
Arthropoda have external skeletons, segmented bodies, and jointed legs. Insects, crabs, and arachnids are examples of
arthropods.
CLASS
Members of a class share more characteristics with each other than they do with other organisms in the same phylum.
Amphibians and reptiles both belong to the Phylum Chordata, but each belongs to a different class.
ORDER
The groups in an order have more in common with each other than they do with other members of the same class. Because
reindeer (caribou) and whales both belong to the Class Mammalia, they share the basic traits of mammals, such as feeding
milk to their young; however, each belongs to a different order. Reindeer are part of the Order Artiodactyla, which includes
cloven-hoofed mammals; cows, pigs, antelope, and giraffes are fellow artiodactyls. Whales belong the Order Cetacea, a
marine mammal order that counts porpoises and dolphins as members.
FAMILY
Members of the same taxonomic family are more closely related to each other than they are to other members of the same
order. For example, foxes, coyotes, lions, cats, otters, and weasels all belong to the Order Carnivora. However, foxes and
coyotes belong to the family Canidae. Lions and cats belong to the family Felidae; otters and weasels are part of the family
Mustelidae.
GENUS
The groups of organisms in a genus share many structural similarities and are very closely related.
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The cat family, Felidae, includes lions, tigers, ocelots, domestic cats, bobcats, and lynx. However, lions and tigers belong
to the genus Panthera, ocelots and domestic cats are part of the genus Felis, and lynx and bobcats are in the genus Lynx.
SPECIES
The species is the most fundamental unit in taxonomy and ranks at the base of the biological classification hierarchy.
Members of the same species share the same evolutionary history and are more closely related to each other than they are
to any other organisms. Organisms are grouped into a species based on physical and genetic similarities. All members of a
species have the same number of chromosomes.
The most important factor in species classification is the ability of members to successfully interbreed—that is, to mate
and produce viable offspring (those that can in turn breed and produce more offspring). Individuals of the same species
can successfully interbreed with one another but almost never with members of other species. Different species within a
genus have been known to produce hybrid offspring, but the offspring are almost always sterile. An example of this is the
mating of a horse and a donkey, which produces a mule. Because mules are sterile, the interbreeding is not considered
successful.
5 Kingdom Classification system: 1. Kingdom Protista (protists), 2. Kingdom Fungi, 3. Kingdom Plantae (plants), 4.
Kingdom Animalia, 5. Kingdom [Link]
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1. Kingdom Animalia
Animals are multicellular organisms whose cells have no cell walls or chloroplasts. Most animals ingest solid food and
digest it internally. Animals vary widely in size and usually use sexual reproduction.
Nutrition: Ingestion; the process of taking food, drink, or another substance into the body by
swallowing or absorbing it.
Metabolism: Require oxygen
Reproduction: Usually sexual, but asexual in some species (sponges, flatworms, sea anemones,
hydra, stony corals)
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Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Invertebrates: animals that lack a back bone
Some groups/phylum of invertebrates include: Arthropoda, Coelenterates/coelenterata, Mollusca, Flat worms
(Platyhelminths), True worms
Phylum: Arthropoda (largest phylum in animal kingdom)
Features: They have jointed limbs, hard firm exoskeleton called cuticle, segmented bodies.
Subphylum: crustacea, insects, arachnids, myriapods
i. Crustacea
Crustacea have an exoskeleton (a rigid external skeleton), jointed limbs, two pairs of antennae (long thin feelers attached
to the head) which are sensitive to touch and to chemicals, and they have compound eyes, compound eyes (made up of tens
or hundreds of separate lenses with light-sensitive cells underneath). Examples include: Marine crustacea are crabs, prawns,
lobsters, shrimps and barnacles. Freshwater crustacea are water fleas, Cyclops, the freshwater shrimp (Gammarus) and the
water louse (Asellus). Woodlice are land-dwelling crustacea.
External features of an arthropod
ii. Insects
Features: segmented bodies, firm exoskeleton, three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, usually two pairs of wings,
distinct head, thorax, and abdomen. Example: Wasps, butterflies, mosquitoes,
houseflies, earwigs, greenflies, and beetles (e.g. ladybird) are just a few of the
subgroups in this class.
External features of an insect (greenbottle
×5). Flies, midges and mosquitoes have only one pair of wings
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iii. Arachnids
Features: bodies are divided into two regions, a combined head and thorax region, called the cephalothorax, and the
abdomen, four pairs of limbs on their cephalothorax, two pairs of pedipalps: one pair is used in reproduction; the other is
used to pierce their prey and paralyse it with a poison secreted by a gland at the base, several paris of simple eyes.
Example: spiders, scorpions, mites and ticks
External features of an arachnid
iv. Myriapods
Features: Head, segmented body not clearly dividied into head and abdomen, pair of legs on each body segment, one pari
of antenna, simple eyes,
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Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Invertebrates
Phylum: Coelenterates/coelenterata
Features: coelentrates have a body like a bag made of two layers of cells; the opening at one end is the mouth and it is
usually surrounded by tentacles. The tentacles contain sting cells which release long threads if touched. Some threads
inject poison into the prey.
Hydra Sea anemone Jelly fish
Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Invertebrates
Phylum: Flat worms (Platyhelminths)
Features: Flatworms have flat bodies with a mouth at one end. Planarians are flat worms which live in fresh water and in
damp soil. They swim of crawl by using the cilia covering their bodies. Tape worms and liver flukes live as parasites
inside the bodies of animals including humans.
Freshwater flat worm Tapeworm Liver fluke
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True worms
Features: body contains segments that are separated by rings. Example: earthworm (lives in the soil and eats remains of
dead plants and animals), peacock worms (lives in tubes in sands and use a fan of long bristles around the mouth to filter
tiny organisms from sea water), leeches (live as parasites by sucking blood from their victims).
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Features: segmented, soft body, one or two shells present usually, feed with long tongue called
radula which is as sharp as a file and is used to scrape pieces off plants or microscopic creatures
off rocks.
Example: limpets and snails (both have one shell and move on a large slimy foot, feed with
radula), mussels and oysters (shells are hinged together), slugs and cuttle fish (shell is inside the
body, octopus (has no shell). Cuttlefish, squid, and octopus use arms with suckers to catch their
prey, then tear the prey to pieces with their radula and a beak curved like a parrot’s. They fend
off attackers by squirting ink at them.
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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Vertebrates
Features: Vertebrates are animals which have a vertebral column/spinal column/spine which is a chain of cylindrical
bones joined end to end, the front part of spinal cord forms the brain, enclosed in a skull, skull contains a pair of jaws,
jaws hold teeth in most vertebrates.
5 classes of vertebrates: fish, amphibia, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Fish: cold blooded vertebrates, bodies covered with scales, they have fins, gills to breathe, \
Reproduction: sexual; fertilization is usually external.
Example: Rawa
i. Amphibia
Features: cold blooded vertebrates, four limbs, moist skin which can exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with air or
water, lungs are also present, do not have diaphragm or ribs, no scales, spends its life on both water and land. Most frogs,
toads, and newts live on moist land then go to water to lay their eggs).
Reproduction: Sexual; usually external
Example: Frogs, toads, newts
ii. Reptiles
Features: cold-blooded; land-living; dry scaly skin (prevents water loss); eggs have a tough shell; four limbs (except
snake)
Example: lizards, snakes, turtles, tortoises and crocodiles
Reproduction: sexual reproduction; eggs fertilised internally
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iii. Birds
Features: warm-blooded; scales are present in the legs and toes; feathers are present: down feathers (provide insulation),
contour feathers (cover the body, gives the bird shape and color), quill feathers (used for flight); four limbs: fore limbs
modified to form wings; feet have four toes with claws; jaws are extended to form a beak;
Reproduction-sexual; internal fertilization; female lays hard shelled eggs
Example: Pigeon
iv. Mammals
Fetaures: warm blooded;four limbs; hair present; diaphragm present; young feed on mother’s milk; mammals do not lay
eggs give birth to young;
Reproduction: sexual; internal fertilizations
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2. Kingdom Plantae
Plants are multicellular organisms that made their own food via photosynthesis. Cell wall made of cellulose, chloroplasts
with photosynthetic pigments. The primary producers. Plants are classified according to whether they are vascular or
nonvascular, flowering or nonflowering, and other characteristics.
Examples: Flowers, grasses, conifers, multicellular algae, ferns, mosses
Nutrition: Autotrophs; An autotroph is an organism that can produce its own food using light,
water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals.
Metabolism: Require oxygen and carbon dioxide
Reproduction: Both sexual and asexual
Focus on ferns and flowering plants.
Flowering plants
2 types: monocotyledon and dicotyledon
Cotyledon: an embryonic leaf which often contains food stores.
Monocotyledon: only has one cotyledon in their seeds, most have long narrow leaves, parallel veins
blur poppy, iris, grasses, daffodils, bluebells,
Dicotyledon: has two cotyledon in their seeds, broad leaves, leaf veins form branching network
trees, shrubs, herbs
Ferns:
Phylum: Pteridophyta
Features: stems, leaves and roots are very similar to those of the flowering plants, stems grow below groud, stems have
watre conducting cells like xylem and phloem, leaves are several cells thick, most leaves have upper and lower epidermis,
Reproduction: ferns donot produce seeds, they produce spores (position depends on the species)
Ferns come from an ancient lineage of non-flowering plants that reproduce by spores. The fern reproduction cycle
begins with the asexual spores, which are contained in sporangia (spore cases) usually located on the underside of the
fronds. Sporangia may appear as green, brown or black dots or even stripes and are often arranged in distinctive patterns.
If conditions are right, the spores usually get ejected into the air to land somewhere else (hopefully a moist, suitable
medium) to germinate. The germinating spore grows into a tiny prothallus, the gametophyte phase in the life of a
fern. The prothallus is a short-lived heart-shaped structure typically 2–5 mm wide, with a number of rhizoids (root-like
hairs) growing underneath. These rhizoids bear the sex organs—archegonia (female) and antheridia (male). Sperm are
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released from the antheridium when water is present and swim to an archegonium to fertilize the egg. The resulting cell,
the zygote, develops into an embryo with stem, roots, and fronds, eventually becoming a plant we see as a fern.
Polypody fern is a type of fern from the family Polypodiaceae.
1. Ferns are vascular plants, they can reproduce both asexually and sexually.
2. Ferns reproduce sexually through spores, despite the lack of petals.
3. Asexual reproduction is possible in some ferns.
4. One method is vegetative cloning, which involves growing colonies with identical genetic makeup by
branching off of the rhizome, an underground stem that resembles a root.
5. Using spores, the second type of asexual reproduction takes place.
rhi·zome: a somewhat elongated usually horizontal subterranean plant stem that is often thickened by deposits of reserve
food material, produces shoots above and roots below, and is distinguished from a true root in possessing buds, nodes, and
usually scalelike leaves.
Plants that have rhizomes include poplars, bamboos, ginger, turmeric, lotus, and many types of ferns. Irises are also part
of the rhizome family.
Examples of below ground rhizomes: Boston fern, Snake plant, Venus fly trap, peony, turmeric, ginger, running bamboo,
Rhizomes, as seen in iris (Iris) and ginger (Zingiber officinale), are fleshy, elongated, horizontal stems that grow within or
upon the soil. The branching of rhizomes results in multiplication of the plant. Rhizomes allow a plant to reproduce
asexually. New plants, identical to the parent, maybe grown from a section of rhizome that contains a node. Many different
types of plants use rhizomes, including some grasses, lilies, orchids, ferns, and trees. Edible rhizomes include ginger and
turmeric.
The definition of adventitious roots in biology is roots that are produced from non-root organs of the plant, and as such,
they grow from stem tissue, leaves, and different underground structures such as corms, rhizomes, and tubers
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3. Kingdom Fungi
Fungi include both unicellular and multicellular forms. Made of hypha, which is not made of
cells but scattered cytoplasm Most fungi are saprophytes, meaning they feed by decomposing
dead organisms. Fungi like yeast feed by converting sugar into energy for themselves, in a
process called fermentation. Most fungi have cell wall made of chitin.
Examples of multicellular fungi: Mushrooms, bracket fungi that grow on tree trunks (parasite), mould fungi, which grow
on stale bread, cheese, fruit or other food.
Unicellular fungi: The yeasts are single-celled fungi that have some features similar to moulds, ring worm (parasite).
Nutrition: Saprotrophs; Absorption
Metabolism: Require oxygen
Reproduction: Both sexual and asexual
Exercise 2
Write short notes on yeast, bread mould, and mushroom
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4. Kingdom Protista
Some protists are unicellular and others are multicellular. Protozoa are unicellular protists and are of three types: rhizopods,
ciliates, and flagellates.
Examples: Amoebas, diatoms, dinoflagellates, ciliates, slime molds, single-celled algae
Nutrition: Depending on species, nutrition intake may occur through absorption, photosynthesis, or ingestion
Metabolism: Require oxygen
Reproduction: Both sexual and asexual (usually)
i) rhizopods- these protozoa move and sometimes feed by extending parts of their bodies to form
arm like structures called pseudopodia.
ii) ciliates- these protozoa have microscopic hairs called cilia, which they use for feeding and
moving.
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iii) flagellates-These protozoa have a whiplike hair called flagellum, which they use for moving.
Many have chlorophyll.
Examples of protozoa
Exercise 1
Write short note on the following protozoa A - D
5. Kingdom Monera/Prokarya
These are the bacteria and the blue-green algae. They consist of single cells but are different from other single-celled
organisms because their chromosomes are not organised into a nucleus
The Archaea are single-celled prokaryotic bacteria that contain ribosomal RNA. Some species live in extreme
environments, such as hydrothermal vents or within the guts of animals. The eubacteria or true bacteria are microscopic
unicellular prokaryotes.
Examples: Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, cyanobacteria, actinobacteria
Reproduction: Asexual
Virus: Viruses are not included in any kingdom – they are not considered to be living organisms because they
do not have cell membranes (made of protein and lipid), cytoplasm and ribosomes, and do not demonstrate the
characteristics of living things: they do not feed, respire, excrete or grow. Although viruses do reproduce, this
only happens inside the cells of living organisms, using materials provided by the host cell
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