Question 1:

Why are living organisms classified?

Answer
A large variety of plants, animals, and microbes are found on earth. All these living
organisms differ in size, shape, colour, habitat, and many other characteristics. As
there are millions of living organisms on earth, studying each of them is impossible.
Therefore, scientists have devised mechanisms to classify all living organisms. These
methods of classification are based on rules and principles that allow identification,
nomenclature, and finally classification of an organism.
For example, based on certain principles, once an organism is identified as an insect,
it will be given a scientific name and then grouped with other similar organisms.

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Thus, various groups or taxon include organisms based on their similarity and
differences.
Therefore, the biological classification helps in revealing the relationship between
various organisms. It also helps in making study of organisms easy and organized.

Question 2:
Why are the classification systems changing every now and then?
Answer
Millions of plants, animals, and microorganisms are found on earth. Many of these
have been identified by the scientists while many new species are still being
discovered around the world. Therefore, to classify these newly discovered species,
new systems of classification have to be devised every now and then. This creates
the requirement to change the existing systems of classification.

Question 3:
What different criteria would you choose to classify people that you meet often?
Answer

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To classify a class of forty students, let us start the classification on the basis of
sexes of the students. This classification will result in the formation of two major
groups- boys and girls.
Each of these two groups can be further classified on the basis of the names of the
students falling in these groups.
Since it is possible that more than one student can have a particular name, these
names can be further divided based on the surnames.
Since there is still some chance that more than one student can have the same
surname, the final level of classification will be based on the roll numbers of each
student.

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Question 4:
What do we learn from identification of individuals and populations?
Answer
The knowledge of characteristics of an individual or its entire population helps in the
identification of similarities and dissimilarities among the individuals of same kind or
between different types of organisms. It helps the scientists to classify organisms in
various categories.

Question 5:
Given below is the scientific name of Mango. Identify the correctly written name.
Mangifera Indica
Mangifera indica
Answer
In binomial system of nomenclature, the generic name of a species always starts
with a capital letter whereas the specific name starts with a small letter. Therefore,
the correct scientific name of Mango is Mangifera indica.

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Question 6:
Define a taxon. Give some examples of taxa at different hierarchical levels.
Answer
Each unit or category of classification is termed as a taxon. It represents a rank. For
example, the basic level of classification is species, followed by genus, family, order,
class, phylum or division, in ascending order. The highest level of classification is
known as kingdom.

Question 7:
Can you identify the correct sequence of taxonomical categories?
(a) Species → Order → Phylum → Kingdom

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(b) Genus → Species → Order → Kingdom
(c) Species → Genus → Order → Phylum
Answer
The correct hierarchical arrangement of taxonomic categories in ascending order is
Species → Genus → Family → Order → Class → Phylum → Kingdom
Therefore, both (a) and (c) represent correct sequences of taxonomic categories.
In sequence (b), species should be followed by genus. Therefore, it does not
represent the correct sequence.

Question 8:
Try to collect all the currently accepted meanings for the word ‘species’. Discuss with
your teacher the meaning of species in case of higher plants and animals on one
hand and bacteria on the other hand.
Answer
In biological terms, species is the basic taxonomical rank. It can be defined as a
group of similar organisms that are capable of interbreeding under natural conditions
to produce fertile offsprings.
Therefore, a group of similar individuals that are respectively isolated form a species.
Species can also be defined as group of individuals that share the same gene pool.
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Question 9:
Define and understand the following terms:
(i) Phylum (ii) Class (iii) Family (iv) Order (v) Genus
Answer
(i) Phylum
Phylum is the primary division of kingdom. It includes one or more related classes of
animals. In plants, instead of phylum, the term ‘division’ is used.
(ii) Class
Class is a taxonomic group consisting of one or more related orders. For example,
the class, Mammalia, includes many orders.
(iii) Family

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Family is a taxonomic group containing one or more related genera. In plants,
families are categorized on the basis of vegetative and reproductive features.
(iv) Order
Order is a taxonomic group containing one or more families. For example, the order,
carnivore, includes many families.
(v) Genus
Genus is a taxonomic group including closely related species. For example, the
genus, Solanum, includes many species such as nigrum, melongena, tuberosum,etc.

Question 10:
How is a key helpful in the identification and classification of an organism?
Answer
Key is another taxonomical aid that helps in identification of plant and animal
species. These keys are based on similarities and dissimilarities in characters,
generally in a pair called couplet.
Each statement in a taxonomic key is referred to as a lead. For categorizing each
taxonomic rank, such as family, genus, species, etc., different keys are used. It is
also useful in identification of unknown organisms.

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Keys are of two types- indented and bracketed keys. Indented key provides a
sequence of choices between two or more statements while in bracketed key, a pair
of contrasting characters are used.
(i) Indented key to identify different species of Rhododendron.
1. Leaves evergreen
2. leaves densely hairy below, orange or white hair; flower
appears to have separate petals
………………………. Rhododendron groenlandicum
2. hair absent on leaves, flower has five petals fused in a shallow
tube
………………………. Rhododendron maximus

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1. Leaves deciduous
3. pink flowers with two free petals and three fused petals
………………………. Rhododendron canadense
3. white to pink flowers with all petals fused together
(ii) Bracketed key to identify different species of Rhododendron.
1. Leaves evergreen 2
1. Leaves deciduous 3
2. Leaves densely hairy below, orange or white hair; flower
appears to have separate petals
……….………………………. Rhododendron groenlandicum
2. Hair absent on leaves, flower has five petals fused in shallow
tube
………………………………..Rhododendron maximus
3. Pink flowers with two free petals and three fused petals
……………………………… Rhododendron canadense
3. White to pink flowers with all petals fused together ----- 4

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Question 11:
Illustrate the taxonomical hierarchy with suitable examples of a plant and an animal.
Answer
The arrangement of various taxa in a hierarchical order is called taxonomic
hierarchy.
In this hierarchy, species is present at the lowest level whereas kingdom is present
at the highest level.

Kingdom
↑
Phylum or division

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↑
Class
↑
Order
↑
Family
↑
Genus
↑
Species
A Taxonomic hierarchy

Classification of a plant
As an example, let us classify Solanum melongena (Brinjal).
Kingdom – Plantae
Division – Angiospermae
Class – Dicotyledonae
Order – Solanales
Family – Solanaceae
Genus – Solanum

Species – melongena
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Classification of an animal
As an example, let us classify Columba livia (Blue rock Dove).
Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Chordata
Class – Aves
Order – Columbiformes
Family – Columbidae
Genus – Columba
Species – livia

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