CHAPTER

01
living world
 • Life is a unique, complex organization of molecules, expressing through
chemical reactions which lead to growth, development, responsiveness,
adaptation & reproduction.
• A living organism is self-replicating, evolving and self-regulating interactive
system capable of responding to external stimuli.

PROPERTIES OF LIVING ORGANISMS

1. Growth
• It is the increase in number & mass of cells by cell division.
• In plants, growth continues throughout their lifespan.
• In animals, growth is only up to a certain age. However, cell division occurs
to replace lost cells.
• Basically, growth is the increase in mass & size. Thus non�living objects
also grow (surface accumulation of material). So growth is not a defining
property of living organisms.
• In living organisms, growth is from inside.

2. Reproduction
• It is the production of progeny having features similar to those of parents.
• Organisms reproduce asexually and sexually.
• In unicellular organisms, growth & reproduction are same because they
reproduce by cell division.
• Many organisms do not reproduce (e.g. mules, worker bees, infertile
human couples, etc). Hence, reproduction is not a perfect defining
property of living organisms.

3. Metabolism
• It is the sum total of all biochemical reactions taking place inside a
living system.
• It is the defining feature of living organisms.
• Metabolic reactions can be demonstrated outside the body in cell-free
systems. Isolated metabolic reactions in vitro are not living things
but are living reactions.

4. Cellular organization
• Organisms are made up of one or more cells.
• It is the defining feature of living organisms.

5. Consciousness
• It is the ability of organisms to sense their environment and respond
to environmental stimuli (like light, water, temperature, other organisms,
chemicals, pollutants, etc).
• All organisms are ‘aware’ of their surroundings. So, it is the defining
property of living organisms.
• Human is the only organism having self-consciousness.

DIVERSITY IN THE LIVING WORLD

• The number and types of organisms present on earth refer to biodiversity.
• Number of species described is 1.7-1.8 million.
• Systematics (Taxonomy) is the study of identification, classification &
nomenclature of organisms.
Systematics (Latin ‘systema’ = systematic arrangement) considers
evolutionary relationships between organisms.
• Systema Naturae is the book written by Linnaeus.

Basic processes of taxonomy

• Characterization: It is the understanding of characters of organisms such
as external and internal structure, structure of cell, development process,
ecological information etc.
• Identification: It is the correct description of the organism so that the
naming is possible.

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 • Classification : It is the grouping of organisms into convenient
categories (taxa) based on characters.
• Nomenclature (naming) : It is the standardization of names of
the organisms such that an organism
is known by the same name all over the world. The system of
naming with two components is called Binomial nomenclature.
It is proposed by Linnaeus. Botanical names are based on the
rules in International Code for Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN).
Zoological names are based on International Code for Zoological
Nomenclature (ICZN). Universal rules of Binomial nomenclature
• Scientific names are in Latin or Latinised and written in italics.
When handwritten, they are underlined separately.
• The first word is genus name (Generic name) and second word
is the species name (specific epithet). E.g. Homo sapiens- Homo
represents the genus name and sapiens represents the species name.
• The Genus name starts with capital letter and the species name
starts with small letter.
• Name of the author (in abbreviated form) appears at the end of
the biological name. E.g., Mangifera indica Linn. It indicates that
this species was first described by Linnaeus.

TAXONOMIC CATEGORIES
• Classification involves hierarchy of steps in which each step
represents a taxonomic category (rank).
• All categories together constitute a taxonomic hierarchy.
• Each category represents a unit of classification.
• A group of organisms occupying a particular category is called a
taxon (pl. taxa). E.g. Class Mammalia.

KINGDOM Most
Inclusive

• Species: It is a group of closely related organisms capable of interbreeding

PHYLUM
es

to produce fertile offspring. It is the lowest category. E.g.

eas
ecr

Common name Generic name Specific epithet CLASS

s d
ter

Mango Mangifera indica

rac

Potato Solanum tuberosum

ORDER
cha

Nightshade Solanum nigrum

on

Tomato Solanum lycopersicum

omm

Brinjal Solanum melongena

FAMILY
of c

Lion Panthera leo

r

Tiger Panthera tigris

mbe

Leopard Panthera pardus GENUS

Nu

Modern man Homo sapiens

• Genus: It is the aggregates of closely related species. E.g. Potato, tomato & brinjal SPECIES
Less
are species of genus Solanum. Lion, leopard & tiger are species of genus Inclusive

Panthera. This genus differs from genus Felis (genus of cats).

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 • Family : It is a group of closely related genera. E.g. Family Solanaceae
includes Genus Solanum, Genus Petunia and Genus Datura.
Family Felidae includes Genus Panthera and Genus Felis.
• Order: It is the assemblage of related families. E.g. Order Polymoniales
includes Family Convolvulaceae and Family Solanaceae.
Order Carnivora includes Family Felidae & Family Canidae.
• Class : It is the assemblage of related orders. E.g. Order Primata,
Carnivora etc. is placed in class Mammalia.
• Phylum (Division in case of plants): It is the assemblage of related
class E.g. Classes Amphibia, Reptilia,
Aves, Mammalia etc come under phylum
Chordata.
• Kingdom : The assemblage of related phyla. It is the highest category.
E.g. Kingdom Plantae, Kingdom Animalia etc.

Organisms with their taxonomic categories

Common name Man Housefly Mango Wheat
Biological name Homo sapiens Musca domestica Mangifera indica Triticum aestivum
Species sapiens domestica indica aestivum
Genus Homo Musca Mangifera Triticum
Family Hominidae Muscidae Anacardiaceae Poaceae
Order Primata Diptera Sapindales Poales
Class Mammalia Insecta Dicotyledonae Monocotyledonae
Phylum/Division Chordata Arthropoda Angiospermae Angiospermae
Kingdom Animalia Animalia Plantae Plantae

TAXONOMICAL AIDS
a. Herbarium
• It is a store house (repository) of plant specimens that are dried, pressed
and preserved on sheets and are arranged according to universally accepted classification.
• Herbarium sheets are labelled with information about date and place of collection,
English, local and botanical names, family, collector’s name etc.

b. Botanical gardens
• These are specialized gardens having collections of living plants for reference and
identification.
• Each plant is labelled with its botanical name and family.
• Famous botanical gardens:
o Royal Botanical Garden at Kew (England).
o Indian Botanical Garden, Howrah (India).
o At National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow (India).

c. Biological Museum
• It is a collection of preserved plants and animalsfor study and reference.
• A museum contains
• Specimens preserved in preservative solutions in containers or jars.
• Preserved dry specimens of plants and animals.
• Insects preserved in insect boxes after collecting, killing and pinning.
• Stuffed larger animals like birds and mammals.
• Collections of animal skeletons.

d. Zoological Parks (Zoos)

• These are the places where live wild animals are kept in protected environments
under human care.
• It helps to learn about their food habits and behaviour.

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 e. Key
• It is the device used to identify organisms based on similarities and dissimilarities.
• It is based on the contrasting characters generally in a pair called couplet.
• Each couplet has two opposite options. Of these, only relevant option is accepted
and other is rejected.
• Each statement in the key is called a lead.

Flora, manuals, monographs & catalogues

• Flora is the actual account of habitat and distribution of plant species of a given area.
• Manuals are the record that contains information for dentification of names of
species found in an area.
• Monographs are the records that contain information on any one taxon.

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