This Blog discusses Biodiversity and What is living? And how the Biodiversity is classified in Species, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum, and kingdom.
Follow the Following Block diagram as the Roadmap so that you can understand the blog quickly.
At a Glance of Biodiversity
When I tell you the name dog, cat, you imagine the pictures of dog and cat only and not cow and buffalo in your mind. Why did this happen? There are many different organisms around us. Why we recognize them by their name? all these questions have one answer because of their specific nomenclature given to them from the beginning.
In our surroundings, there are many animals, plants, birds, stones, insects, etc., among them how we differentiate between living and non-living? So, living things have some special abilities like growth, self-multiplication, reproduction, etc., unlike non-living things. These living and non-living characterization takes place from their identification, nomenclature, and classification.
The classification is from their character similarities and some similar abilities. We can see some organisms from naked eyes in the environment, and some we cannot see by the naked eyes are microorganisms. This variety of life on the earth is known as BIODIVERSITY, which includes plants, bacteria, humans, and animals.
What is living?
Living is the term used for the things that show an increase in their size, mass, and volume through various processes like reproduction, growth, etc. The unicellular organisms can self-replicate to increase their height and size; the fusion of two unicellular bodies, viz sperm, and egg leads to the formation of a whole organism, same as parent organism.
The self-replicating property of the various cell is helpful for the growth of muscles, tissues, etc. The metabolism process is beneficial for digestion and nutrients production. Due to all such special abilities living organisms are differentiate from non-living organisms.
Biodiversity
Every organism in the surrounding is living in its Habitat and belongs to its specific Niche. Habitat is the area in which the individual organism lives, and Niche is the functional area of that organism. For Habitat, you can imagine your home in which you live, and for Niche, you can imagine your bedroom in which you perform all your works. Every organism in the environment represents a SPECIES.
Between 1.7 to 1.8 million biodiversities or the number of types of organisms are present on earth. Every organism has a different name according to the region, city, and country.
There is lots of variation in local names place by place. This local name introduces when two peoples from different regions interact or communicate. This condition produces the need for the standardization of naming of living organisms in a specific manner and requires unique identification for each organism living on the earth.
Different Systems for Naming Biodiversity
There are two different systems for naming plants and animals are introduced to fulfill this need, viz.
“International Code for Botanical Nomenclature” for Plants And
“International Code of Zoological Nomenclature” for Animals
Each organism is given a particular biological name which contains two components Generic Name and Specific Epithet. This nomenclature system is known as Binomial Nomenclature, and this naming system is given by Carolus Linnaeus. For example, Amla is Indian gooseberry, and its biological name is Phyllanthus Emblica. Phyllanthus is the name of the genus, and Emblica is the name for species.
The name of the author is get written after a specific epithet that is at the end of the biological name and written in abbreviated form, for example, Phyllanthus Emblica Linn, which means species is getting described by Linnaeus. This binomial nomenclature system is get regulated according to its universal rules.
Classification of Biodiversity
It is impossible to study all types of organisms; hence all species are classified under certain groups. This grouping is taking place according to the convenient categories. The category to study organisms is named TEXA. All the organisms with various similarities are classified, for example, cat, dog, mammal, plants, and animals. This process of classification is termed as TAXONOMY. The characterization, identification, nomenclature, and classification are the basic processes followed by the taxonomy.
These organisms share a special bond with each other; the relationship among all the different organisms and their evaluation are get studied under the branch called Systematics. In the taxonomy, there are various taxonomic categories arranged in a hierarchy. Each category represents a separate unit of classification; these categories are as follows.
These categories also represent the rank of the organism, which is known as TAXON. According to their similarities in characters, morphological features, and a group of organisms, the classification of the organisms in these categories is. Before dealing with these categories, let’s clear some basics.
Species
Species are a group of individuals with fundamental similarities. It includes plants and animal species that can breed and produce fertile offspring by sexual reproduction with each other in nature. It can also define from their shared history and ancestors. Individuals classify under species have many common characteristics.
For example – when a female horse and male donkey mate, they produce a hybrid offspring called Mule.
Genus in Biodiversity
It is a biological classification ranking between family and species, a group of many related species with common features. It consists of a large number of individuals. It is used in the initial, binomial nomenclature system discussed above, and it is written in capital letters always.
For example – the best example is animals like zebra, horses, and donkeys belong to the same genus Equus. This means all the different zebra species, horses, and donkeys also belong to the genus Equus.
Family in Biodiversity
It is the group of related genera with similarities but less in number than the genus and species. These are the groups of collected things and entities by their common attributes.
For example – Canidae (dogs, wolves, foxes), Felidae(cats), protein family, gene family.
Order
Order is based on the aggregation of the characters of the individuals. It comprises families sharing a set of similar characters or nature.
For example – Mammalia is a class that includes order Carnivora that is meat eating mammals, insectivore that is insect eaters.
Class in Biodiversity
Class is a major taxonomical rank below the phylum and above the order, including a group of related orders.
For example – class Mammalia belongs to the phyla Chordata, and it includes various orders as explained in the above example.
Phylum in Biodiversity
Phylum is the taxonomical ranking that comes below Kingdome and above class, which includes various classes.
For example, phylum Chordata includes individuals with a spinal cord. Chaetognatha is individuals with long hair jaw, such as arrow worms.
Kingdom
Kingdom is the second-highest taxonomical rank just below the domain. It is composed of smaller groups called phyla or division in plants. There are five kingdoms of classification viz.
- Kingdom Monera
- Kingdom Protista
- Kingdom Fungi
- Kingdom Plantae
- Kingdom Animalia
As the classification hierarchy travels from species to kingdom, the similarity in the characters of individuals gets decreases. This biological classification is further explained in the plant and animal kingdom, which we will discuss in upcoming blogs. Till the time, stay connected.
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