Characteristics & Classification

of Living Things
Classification

 Classification means putting things

into groups.
 The main reasons for classifying

living things is to make it easier to

study them.

 Helpful in quicker identification of

newly discovered organisms even if
limited traits/features are known
 One way of remembering this list of the
characteristics of living things is by using the
mnemonic MRS GREN

 Movement
 Respiration
 Sensitivity
 Growth
 Reproduction
 Excretion
 Nutrition
 Movement is an action by an organism or part of
an organism causing a change of position or
place.

 Respiration describes the chemical reactions in

cells that break down nutrient molecules and
release energy for metabolism.

 Sensitivity is the abiity to detect or sense stimuli

in the internal or external environment and to
make appropriate response.
 Growth is a permanent increase in size and dry
mass by an increase in cell number or cell size
or both.
 Excretion is the removal from organisms of the

waste products of metabolism ( including

chemical reactions like respiration) , toxic
substances and substances in excess
requirements.

 Nutrition is the taking in of materials for energy,

growth and development.

 Reproduction is the processes that make more of

the same kind of organism.
Biologists classify living
things
 The first persons who try to classify living
things in a scientific way was a Swedish
Naturalist called LINNAEUS

 He divided all the different kinds of living

things into groups called Species.

 Species is the group of organisms that can

reproduce to produce fertile offspring.
 Species Genera (sin. Genuus)
Family

Orders

Classes

Phyla

Kingdoms
Helpful way to remember
the 7 levels

King Philip Came Over

For Grape Soda.
King Philip Came Over

For Green Skittles.

Each species has a
Binomial
 Linnaeus gave every living organism two
names, written in Latin.

 The first name is of the Genus it belongs to,

and always has a capital letter,

 The second name is the name of its

Species, and always has a small letter.

 This two-word name is called a binomial

 For. E.g. Wolf belongs to genus Canis and the
species lupus.

 Its binomial is Canis lupus

 These names are printed in Italic.

 Underline any latin names when you are

writing.

 The genus name can be abbreviated like this :

C lupus.
Five Kingdom

Kingdom

Prokaryotes Fungi Protoctists

Animals Plants
 Eukaryote- well defined nucleus( nuclear
membrane)
 Prokaryote- no nuclear membrane
Viruses ?

Biologists disagree
about whether viruses
should be classes as a
living things
Classification of Animals

Scientists have divided the Animal

Kingdom into two main groups:

vertebrates and invertebrates

(animals with a (animals without
backbone) a backbone)
 Kingdom

Vertebrate Arthropods Annelids Molluscs Nematodes

Fish Crustaceans

Amphibian Arachnids

Reptiles Insects

Birds Myriapods

Mammals
Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Arthropods
 It means jointed limbs.
 Hard and firm exoskeleton, called cuticle,

which encloses their bodies.

 Bodies are segmented and between

segments, there are flexible joints which

permits movement,
 The segments are grouped together to form

distinct region, e.g. head, thorax

and abdomen
Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Arthropods
Class-Crustaceans

 Marine crustaceans : crabs, prawns, lobsters..

 Fresh water crustaceans : shrimps
 Have exoskeleton and jointed legs.
 Five or more pair of legs
 Two pairs of antennae, sensitive to touch and
chemicals
 One pair of compound eyes, made up of
different lenses with light-sensitive cell.
 Limbs on each segment
 On head modified as antennae or mouth

feeding part.
 Cephalothorax and abdomen
 Exoskeleton calcified to form carapace.
Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Arthropods
Class-Insects

 Have segmented bodies

 Segments are grouped into distinct head, thorax, and abdomen
 Firm exoskeleton
 Three pairs of jointed legs
 One pair of Compound eyes and antennae
 Two pairs of wings
 Differ from crustacea in having wings, only one pair of
antennae and only three pairs of legs
 No limbs on abdominal region
 Impermeable cuticle prevents dessication in hot climates
Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Arthropods
Class-Arachinds
 Their bodies are divided into two regions, the
cephalothorax and abdomen
 Four pairs of limbs on the cephalothorax, two
pedipalps ( used in reproduction ) and two
chelicerae (pierce the prey and paralyse it with
poison secreted by a gland at their base)

 Example: spider , scorpion

Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Arthropods
Class-Myriapods

 These are millipedes and centipedes.

 Have head and segmented body which is not

obviously divided into thorax and abdomen

 pairs of legs on each body segment
 One pair of antennae
 Simple eyes
 Centipedes are carnivorous
 Millipedes feed on vegetable matter
Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Nematodes
 Often called Round worms
 Bodies not divided in to segments
 Pointed at both ends
 Live in different habitats

◦ In soil
◦ As parasites in human intestine
 Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Annelids
 Elongate cylindrical bodies that are divided in
to segments
Each segment carry bristles called
CHAETAE, that help in locomotion
Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Molluscs
 Soft bodied animals.
 With or without shell.

◦ Snail (With); Slug, Octopus (Without)

 Have muscular foot. In octopus the foot has
become an array of tentacles
 Slugs and snails have lungs
 Squids and Octopuses have gills
Echinoderms
 FLATWORM

 Phlyum :Platyhelminthes
TAPEWORM
 Coelenterates/Cnidaria – jellyfish
Vertebrates

Animals with backbones can be divided into

five more groups:

Mammals Birds Reptiles

Amphibian Fish
s
Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Chordate
Class-Fish
 The fish all live in water, except for one or two like the
mudskipper which can spends short periods of time
breathing air,
 Characteristics :
 Smooth streamlined body for minimum resistance
 Vertebrates with scaly skin
 Have gills protected by bony plate called operculum
 Have fins
 Poikilothermic vertebrates(cold blooded)
 Reproduce sexually but fertilization usually take place
externally
 Lay eggs and male shed sperm on them
MUDSKIPPER
Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Chordate
Class-Amphibians
 The organisms spends part of its life in water and part
on the land. (double life)
 Characteristics :
 Moist, scale-less skin
 Four limbs
 Eggs laid in water, larva (tadpole) lives in water
 Adult lives on land
 Larva has gills and adult has lungs
 Poikilothermic
 Fertilization is external
Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Chordate
Class-Reptiles
 These are the crocodiles, lizards, snakes, turtles
and tortoises.
 Reptile do not need to go back to the water to
breed because their eggs have waterproof shell.
 Characteristics :
 Land living
 Dry Scaly skin:Resist water loss
 Poikilothermic but can regulate temp.(basking in
sun)
 Apart from snakes, reptile have four limbs
 Eggs fertilize internally before being laid
Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Chordate
Class-Birds
 The birds, like reptiles, lay eggs with waterproof shells
 Characteristics :
 Have feathers
 Scales on legs
 Forelimbs modified to wings
 Feet have four toes with claws
 Upper and lower jaw extended to form beak
 Fertilization internally
 Lay eggs with hard shells
 Homoeothermic (warm blooded)
 Have a beak
Kingdom-Animal
Phylum-Chordate
Class-Mammals
 This is the group that humans belong to.

Characteristics :
 With hair and fur

 Four limbs

 Young feed on milk from mammary gland

 Homoeothermic

 Heart have four chamber

 Have a different type of teeth

 Cerebral hemisphere are very well developed.

Egg fertilised internally and fully developed young ones are

given birth
 Kingdom-Prokaryote

 Include bacteria and blue green algae

 Usually 0.01 mm in length
 Often unicellular
 Have no nuclear membrane
 Spherical , rod or spiral shape

 Have cell wall ..(not made of cellulose but variety of proteins ,

lipids and sugars)
 Bacteria have a slime capsule outside their cell wall.

 Single chromosome and circular strand of DNA.

 Flagellum

 Some of them are harmful to us and cause disease e.g. TB and

cholera.
 Many more are helpful, e.g. in making food like yoghurt and
cheese, in sewage treatment, in making insulin
 Some bacteria can carry out photosynthesis
Structure of bacteria
Kingdom-Fungi
 Multicellular
 Thread like hyphae
 Have nuclei
 Have cell wall
 Do not have chlorophyll
 Saprophytic or parasitic nutrition
 Fungus yeast useful in making alcohol and bread.
 Obtain antibiotic such as penicillin from various
different fungi
 Some are harmful causing ringworm, athlete's
foot, food decay.
FUNGI HYPHAE
 Kingdom: Protoctist
 Single celled
 Have a nuclear membrane
 Eg: amoeba
 Kingdom : Virus
 Have a central core of RNA or DNA surrounded
by protein coat
 No nucleus , cytoplasm , cell organelles or

membrane
 Do not feed , respire , excrete or grow.
 Reproduce within a host.
 Protein coat consist of regular protein units

called capsomeres.
 The protein coat is called a capsid.
Plant Classification
 We are going to learn about :
 Algae
 Liverworts & Mosses
 Vascular Plants

Ferns Conifers Flowering Plants

Monocotyledons
Dicotyledons
Algae
 Algae are plants
 Range from very simple filaments(single

row of identical cells) to large seaweeds

 Have cellulose cell wall and chloroplast
 Chloroplast contain chlorophyll but red

and brown algae contain other pigments

as well.
 Grow in water
 Specialized supporting or water conducting

tissue
 Liverworts

and

 Mosses
 Liverworts
 Small, flat green plants
 Growing close together

in very moist and shady place

 Have no stems and roots
 Single celled Rhizoids (like root hair)
 Rhizoids grow from lower surface, anchor them

in the ground and absorb water

 Lack of waxy cuticle layer
 Mosses
 Simple but successful land plants.
 Quite small, on average about 1-5cm long
 Grow in dense tufts, which helps support to them

and to conserve moisture.

 Has slender stem with numerous small leaves
 Sometime the stem is horizontal and has many

branches.
Vascular Plants
 It include
 Ferns

 Conifers

 Flowering Plants
Ferns
 Land plants
 Much larger than mosses
 Highly developed structure
 stem, roots and leaves are very similar to

those of the flowering plants

Conifers
 Conifers are tree or shrubs
 Needle like leaves
 Reproduce by seeds rather than spores
 The seeds are formed in cones and not in
flower and are not enclosed in an ovary.
 Male and female cones on the same plant.
 Male cones produce pollen which is light and
powdery and falls or is blown, on to the female
cones
 Pine, larch, spruce and cypress are e.g. of
conifers
 Pine

 Pine cone

larch

 spruce
 cypress
Flowering plants
 Cell with cell wall made up of cellulose
 Some parts of plants are green
 Contain pigment called chlorophyll
 Absorb energy from sunlight
 Plant uses this energy to produce glucose using
carbon dioxide and water
 It split into two groups i.e. Monocotyledonous
and dicotyledonous plants.
 Have xylem and phloem
 Seeds produce inside ovary , inside flower
 Seeds enclosed in fruits.
 Monocotyledonous plants
 Have one cotyledonous inside
 Long and narrow leaf
 Strap-shaped leaves with parallel vein
 Grains, (wheat, corn, rice, millet) lilies, daffodils, sugarcane,
banana, palm, ginger, onions, bamboo, sugar, cone, palm
tree, banana tree, and grass are monocots.
Dicotyledonous
 Have two cotyledonous inside each seed
 Leaves which can be broad and which have

a network of branching veins

 Legumes (pea, beans, lentils, peanuts)

daisies, mint, lettuce, tomato and oak are

examples of dicots.