NOTE

B I O L O G Y

THE LIVING WORLD

AND ITS DIVERSITY
LIVING WORLD AND BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE

Key takeaways

• Living vs Non-Living: How to differentiate between living and non-living?

• Defining characteristics of living organisms
• Binomial Nomenclature: How to name organisms scientifically?

Living vs. Non-living

Growth

• It is the increase in size, mass, or height of an organism. This occurs by cell division.

Animals grow only upto a certain age. In the

Definite

later years, there is only replacement and

repair of worn out cells. Hence, their growth
is termed definite.

Plants, on the other hand, can grow

Indefinite

throughout their lifetime. Thus, the word

indefinite is used for growth in case of
plants.
Growth
Intrinsic

Living organisms grow due to addition from

inside, also known as intrinsic growth.

Growth can be extrinsic too, as seen in non-

Extrinsic

living matter by the accumulation of material

on the surface. Sand dunes and glaciers are
good examples of extrinsic growth.

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• In unicellular organisms, growth and reproduction are synonymous. When a unicellular organism
divides into two, it is considered to be growing as well as reproducing.
• In plants and animals, growth and reproduction are two separate phenomena.
• Growth is a property of living beings, but it cannot be considered as a defining characteristic
of living beings.

Reproduction

• It can be defined as the production of new individual organisms or offspring of their parents.
• Reproduction is not essential for an individual for survival. However, it is essential for the
propagation of a population.
• Thus, reproduction is not a defining characteristic of living organisms.

Reproduction

Asexual Reproduction Sexual Reproduction

Asexual Reproduction Sexual Reproduction

Does not involve the fusion of gametes Involves the fusion of gametes

Offspring identical to the parent Offspring varies genetically from the parents

Asexual reproduction is uniparental Sexual reproduction is generally biparental

Spore formation in fungi Budding in yeast

• Fungi multiply and spread • New individuals form from
easily due to the millions of Common outgrowths (buds) on the
asexual spores they produce. examples of bodies of mature organisms.
asexual
• These are quite resistant reproduction • Examples: Yeast and Hydra.
structures and do not damage
easily.

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Regeneration in flatworms Common Binary fission in bacteria

examples of
• A fragmented organism • Most common form of
asexual
regenerates the lost part of reproduction in prokaryotes
reproduction
its body and becomes a new and a few unicellular
organism. eukaryotes.
• Example: Bacteria and
Amoeba

All living beings cannot reproduce

Infertile couple Worker bee Mule

Inability of a couple to Amongst a swarm of Cross between male

bear offspring. bees, the worker bee is donkey and female
sterile while the queen horse; doesn’t produce
and drones are fertile. gametes

Metabolism

• It is the sum total of all the chemical reactions occurring within the body in a coordinated
manner to support life.
• It occurs in both unicellular and multicellular organisms.
• Non-living objects do not perform metabolic processes.
• Thus, metabolism is a defining property of living beings without exception.
• Metabolism comprises both catabolism and anabolism.

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ENERGY
Molecules

Smaller units

ENERGY

Smaller units

Molecules

Catabolic reactions are those in Anabolic reactions are those

which the molecules are broken in which energy is utilised to
down and energy is released. combine smaller molecules to yield
(Example: The breakdown of food larger, more complex molecules.
during digestion) (Example: Photosynthesis)

• Chemical reactions performed in a test tube are neither living nor non-living. Metabolic reactions
performed outside can be referred to as living reactions but not living things.
• The food that we eat is digested or broken down into simpler substances. These substances
reach the cells and release energy. The unused waste materials are excreted out. It is an
organised phenomenon that happens in organisms.

Cellular organization

• All living beings are made up of cells. Cells

Organ system aggregate to form tissues that, in turn,
aggregate to form organs.
Organ • It is differentiation of a body into smaller
units and subunits that are arranged in an
orderly manner.
Tissue • Organelles interact with each other for
the proper functioning of the cell. It is an
organised process.
Cell
• Each organelle may be involved in individual
functions. The functions performed by cells
Organism are a result of cumulative activities of all
the organelles.
• Thus, cellular organization is a defining
property of living beings.

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Consciousness

• It is the state of awareness of the surroundings and response to external stimuli.

• Examples:

Response to
Sense organs Photoperiod
external factors

• Consciousness is a defining property of living organisms.

Did you know?

Human beings in coma have no self-consciousness. They are supported by machines. Some come
back to normal life, some do not. It is difficult to define whether they are living or non-living.

The characteristics
of living organism
Growth Cellular organisation

Consciousness Metabolism

Reproduction
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Nomenclature

• Species, that are known and described, range between 1.7-1.8 million. New organisms are
continuously being identified.
• Biodiversity is the term used to describe the enormous variety of life on Earth.
• Nomenclature is the process of naming a particular organism, such that it is known by the
same name all over the world.
• Identification is the process by which the features or characteristics of an organism are
known, so that one can identify the organism in any part of the world.

Types of nomenclature

— One word was used to name organisms.

Monomial
nomenclature — Drawback: It became difficult to use unique names as
more and more organisms were discovered.

— To recognise subspecies within a species.

— Each name had three parts:
• First part indicated the genus
Trinomial
• Second part indicated the species nomenclature
• Third part indicated the subspecies
Example: Corvus splendens splendens (Indian crow)
— Drawback: Lack of justification for sub speciation.

— Involves more than two names

— Example: Ranunculus calycibus retroflexis pedunculis
falcatis caule erecto folius compositis. Roughly
Polynomial meaning the buttercup with reflexed sepals, curved
nomenclature flower stalks, erect stem, and compound leaves.
— Drawbacks:
• Not standardized
• Cumbersome to remember

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— Most accepted system.

— Given by Carolus Linnaeus.
— He was known for two important works namely Species Plantarum (1753)
for plants and Systema Naturae (1758).
— In Systema Naturae, using the binomial nomenclature system,
he named 4,400 animal species and 7,700 plant species.
Binomial
— Two terms are used to denote a species of living organism in
nomenclature
this system:
• Generic name
• Specific epithet
Example: Mangifera indica (Mango)

Uses of nomenclature

• Single scientific name to replace multiple vernacular names.

• Description of any organism enables people to arrive at the same name.
• Ensures that a name has not been used for more than one known organism.

Rules of nomenclature

• Biological names are generally in Latin. They are Latinised or derived from Latin,
irrespective of their origin.
• The first word in a biological name represents the genus, while the second component
denotes the specific epithet.
• Both the words in a biological name, when handwritten, are separately underlined or printed
in italics to indicate their Latin origin.
• The first word denoting the genus starts with a capital letter, while the specific epithet starts
with a small letter.
• Example: Mangifera indica Linn.

International International Code

Code of Botanical of Zoological
Nomenclature (ICBN) (ICBN) (ICZN) Nomenclature (ICZN)
for naming plants for naming animals
There are 5 different organisations for naming different organisms

(ICVN) (IC Bac N)

International Code of (ICNCP) International Code
Viral Nomenclature International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteriological
(ICVN) for naming for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) for Nomenclature (IC Bac N)
viruses naming cultigens for naming bacteria
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Did you know?
Tautonym is a scientific name in which the same word is used for both genus and species,
for example Vulpes vulpes (the red fox).
Summary Sheet
Growth
Growth is the increase in
size, mass, or height of an
organism. This occurs by
cell division.
Definite
Animals grow only upto
a certain age. In the
later years, there is only
replacement and repair of
worn out cells. This type
of growth is termed as
definite.
Reproduction
Reproduction is defined
as the production of new
individual organisms or
offspring by their parents.
Metabolism reproduction that involves
Metabolism is defined
as the sum total of all
the chemical reactions
occurring within the body
in a coordinated manner
to support life.
Cellular organization
Cellular organization
is defined as the
components that make up
the cell.
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Intrinsic growth
Living organisms grow
due to addition from
inside, and this is known
as intrinsic growth.
Extrinsic growth
Indefinite
Extrinsic growth is seen
Plants can grow in non-living matter by the
throughout their lifetime. accumulation of material
This type of growth is on the surface. For
termed as indefinite. example, sand dunes and
glaciers.
Asexual reproduction
Asexual reproduction is
the type of uniparental
reproduction that involves
Sexual reproduction no fusion of gametes,
and gives rise to offspring
Sexual reproduction is that are identical to the
the type of biparental parents.
the fusion of gametes to
give rise to offspring with Anabolism
genetic variation.
Anabolism involves those
reactions in which energy
is utilised to combine
smaller molecules to yield
Catabolism
larger, more complex
molecules.
Catabolism involves
those reactions in which
the molecules are broken
down and energy is
released.
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Consciousness Identification Tautonyms

Consciousness is the Identification is the Tautonym is a scientific name

state of awareness of process by which the
the surroundings and features or characteristics
response to external of an organism are
stimuli. known, so that one can
identify the organism in
any part of the world.
in which the same word is
used for both genus and
species.
Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the term

Trinomial nomenclature used to describe the
Nomenclature enormous variety of life
Trinomial nomenclature on Earth.
Nomenclature is the
uses three words in a
process of naming a
name to recognise the
particular organism, such
genus, species, and Polynomial nomenclature
that it is known by the
subspecies.
same name all over the
Polynomial nomenclature
world.
is a system that involves
more than two names to
define an organism.
Monomial nomenclature Binomial Nomenclature

Monomial nomenclature Binomial Nomenclature uses

is the type of two terms for each name to
nomenclature in which denote the generic name
one word is used to name and the specific epithet of an
organisms. organism. This system was
given by Carolus Linnaeus.

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