The Living World - Taxonomic Categories

Description:

Species

• Natural population of individuals or groups of populations.


• Resemble each other in all essential morphological and reproductive characters.


• Able to interbreed freely and produce fertile offsprings.


• One species can be distinguished from another closely related species by simple morphological characters.

Examples −

Potato is a called Solanum tuberosum, so it is of species tuberosum.

Lion is called Panthera leo, so its species is leo.

Genus

• Group of related species.


• Some are monotypic i.e. they have only one species while some are polytypic i.e. they have more than one species.

Example − Panthera leo and Panthera tigris.

Family

• Contains one or more related genera.


• Separable from genera of a related family by important and characteristic differences in both vegetative and reproductive features.

Example − Genera of cats (Felis) and leopard (Panthera) are included in the family felidae.

Order

• Includes one or more related families.


• For example: Family of felidae and canidae are included in under the order carnivora along with hyaenidae (hyaenas) and ursidae (bears).

Class

• Includes one or more related orders.


• For example- Class mammalia includes all mammals like bats, kangaroos, whales, man etc.

Division or Phylum

• Includes one or more related classes.


• The term phylum is used for animals while division is commonly employed for plants.


• For example- Phylum chordate includes animals not only the mammals but also aves (birds), reptilian (reptiles), amphibia (amphibians).

Kingdom

• It the highest taxonomic category.


• All plants are included in the kingdom plantae and animals are included in the kingdom animalia.

As we move from species to kingdom the number of common characters goes on decreasing and the number of organisms in each category increases.