Biodiversity

BIODIVERSITY

CLASSIFICATION OF ORGANISMS • Taxanomy is a branch of Biology concerned with identifying, describing and naming organisms. • Taxanomy: a systematic method of classifying organisms based on their similarities in their characteristics. • Universal system of classification is necessary to enable communication among scientists and allows information about particular organisms to be retrieved readily.

KINGDOMS - MONERA 5 • Consists of prokaryotic organisms • Unicellular. Have cell walls but lack of membrane bound nuclei and organelles • Can be photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic • Examples: bacteria and cyanobacteria (blue-green algae)

Kingdoms-Protista 5 • Includes a variety of unicellular and a few multicellular eukaryotes such as algae and protozoa. • Their nuclei and organelles are surrounded by membranes. • Can be either heterotrophic or autotrophic or both. • Examples: Amoeba sp., Paramecium sp., Spirogyra sp. etc

PROTISTA

FUNGI • • • •

Heterotrophic multicellular eukaryotes Some fungi are unicellular Cell walls of fungi contain chitin Main bodies consist of a network of thread-like hypae called mycelium. They do not contain chlorophyll. Examples: moulds (Mucor sp), mushrooms and yeasts

FUNGI

FUNGI

KINGDOMS-PLANTAE 5 • Includes all green plants • Immobile, multicellular eukaryotes, produce their own food. • Important sources of oxygen, food and clothing. • Examples: mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants

KINGDOMS - ANIMALIA 5 • Animalia are multicellular heterotrophic eukaryotes • The cells do not have cell walls • Examples: invertebrates, mammals, reptiles, amphibian, fish and birds.

HIERARCHY IN THE CLASSIFICATION OF ORGANISMS • Living organisms are classified according to certain basic features. • They are classified into seven hierarchical levels: Kingdom, phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species (pneumonic: Kangaroos Play Cellos, Orangutans Fiddle, Gorillas Sing.) • Each organism is given a scientific name according to Linnaeus binomial system (latin names)

HIERARCHY IN THE CLASSIFICATION OF ORGANISMS • • • • • • • • •

Example: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordate (vertebrate) Class: Mammal Order: Primate Family: Lemuridae Genus: The Lemur Species: Catta Scientific name: Lemur catta