1. What is living?
Answer: Living refers to organisms that exhibit characteristics such as growth, reproduction, response to stimuli, metabolism, homeostasis, and adaptation to their environment.
2. What is biodiversity?
Answer: Biodiversity refers to the variety and variability of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or on the entire Earth, encompassing species diversity, genetic diversity, and ecosystem diversity.
3. Why is there a need for classification?
Answer: Classification is needed to organize and categorize organisms in a systematic way, making it easier to study and understand their relationships, evolution, and ecology.
4. Define taxonomy.
Answer: Taxonomy is the branch of biology that deals with the identification, naming, and classification of organisms based on their natural relationships and characteristics.
5. What is systematics?
Answer: Systematics is the scientific study of the diversity and relationships among organisms, incorporating taxonomy and phylogenetics to understand their evolutionary history.
6. Explain the concept of species.
Answer: A species is a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring, sharing common characteristics and genetic makeup, and are reproductively isolated from other such groups.
7. What is the taxonomical hierarchy?
Answer: The taxonomical hierarchy is a system of classification that arranges organisms into a series of ranked categories: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species.
8. Describe binomial nomenclature.
Answer: Binomial nomenclature is a formal system of naming species of organisms using two Latinized names: the genus name (capitalized) and the species name (lowercase), for example, Homo sapiens.
9. What are the salient features of Monera?
Answer: Monera includes unicellular, prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria. They lack a nucleus, have simple cell structures, reproduce asexually, and can be autotrophic or heterotrophic. Examples: Escherichia coli, Streptococcus.
10. Describe the major groups within Protista.
Answer: Protista are unicellular eukaryotic organisms. Major groups include Protozoa (e.g., Amoeba, Paramecium), Algae (e.g., Chlamydomonas, Spirogyra), and Slime molds (e.g., Physarum).
11. What are the salient features of Fungi?
Answer: Fungi are eukaryotic, heterotrophic organisms with cell walls made of chitin. They reproduce via spores and can be unicellular (yeasts) or multicellular (molds, mushrooms). Examples: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Aspergillus.
12. Describe the characteristics of Lichens.
Answer: Lichens are symbiotic associations between fungi and algae or cyanobacteria. They are pioneer species in ecological succession and are indicators of air quality. Examples: Cladonia rangiferina (reindeer moss), Usnea.
13. What are viruses and viroids?
Answer: Viruses are acellular, infectious agents composed of a protein coat and genetic material (DNA or RNA) that replicate only inside host cells. Viroids are simpler, consisting solely of a short strand of RNA without a protein coat, infecting plants.
14. What are the salient features of Algae?
Answer: Algae are photosynthetic, autotrophic organisms found in aquatic environments. They can be unicellular or multicellular and lack true roots, stems, and leaves. Examples: Chlorella, Sargassum.
15. Describe the characteristics of Bryophytes.
Answer: Bryophytes are non-vascular, small, green plants found in moist environments. They have a dominant gametophyte stage, reproduce via spores, and lack true roots, stems, and leaves. Examples: Mosses (Funaria), Liverworts (Marchantia).
16. What are the distinguishing features of Pteridophytes?
Answer: Pteridophytes are vascular plants with true roots, stems, and leaves. They reproduce via spores and have a dominant sporophyte stage. Examples: Ferns (Pteris), Horsetails (Equisetum).
17. Describe the characteristics of Gymnosperms.
Answer: Gymnosperms are seed-producing, vascular plants with naked seeds not enclosed in fruit. They have needle-like or scale-like leaves and reproduce via cones. Examples: Pines (Pinus), Cycads (Cycas).
18. What are the salient features of non-chordate animals?
Answer: Non-chordates lack a notochord and include diverse phyla such as Porifera (sponges), Cnidaria (jellyfish, corals), Arthropoda (insects, crustaceans), and Mollusca (snails, clams). They have various body plans and modes of reproduction.
19. Describe the salient features of chordates.
Answer: Chordates possess a notochord, dorsal hollow nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, and a post-anal tail at some stage of development. Major classes include Pisces (fish), Amphibia (frogs), Reptilia (lizards), Aves (birds), and Mammalia (mammals).
20. Give examples of chordate classes and their characteristics.
Answer:
Pisces: Aquatic, gills for respiration, fins for movement. Examples: Salmo (salmon), Carassius (goldfish).
Amphibia: Dual life (water and land), moist skin, lay eggs in water. Examples: Rana (frog), Bufo (toad).
Reptilia: Scaly skin, lay shelled eggs on land, ectothermic. Examples: Crocodylus (crocodile), Lacerta (lizard).
Aves: Feathers, beaks, endothermic, lay hard-shelled eggs. Examples: Corvus (crow), Columba (pigeon).
Mammalia: Hair/fur, mammary glands, endothermic. Examples: Homo sapiens (human), Panthera leo (lion).