LEVELS OF BIOLOGICAL

ORGANIZATION
CLASSIFICATION AND
CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS

BIO 101
ALAFIA, A. O.
LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION

• This is the hierarchical arrangement of biological structures and systems

• The biological levels of organization of living things arranged from the simplest to
most complex are:
• organelle, cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms, populations,
communities, ecosystem, and biosphere
CLASSIFICATION OF LIVING THINGS

• a true classification system for the diversity of life is more like a branching tree than a
stairway to perfection.
• Plants are not inferior to animals, for example, but have simply taken a different strategy
towards survival.
• All organisms alive today are successfully adapted to their respective environments, since
they have stood the test of time.
• In fact, there are even some extinct forms, like the trilobites and the dinosaurs, that lived
for so long that you could hardly call them failures.
LINNAEUS CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

• The Linnaean classification system provides a hierarchical structure for the

naming and classification of all living beings. It is used to classify species of
animals along different classification levels (called taxa).
• It is important because it provides a universal system of classification
common to all scientists, and because it allows close relations between living
organisms to be examined.
• Linnaeus' method of classification was based on similarities and differences.
Kingdoms Phyla, Classes. Orders. Families. Genera, Species.
IMPORTANCE OF CLASSIFICATION

• REASONS FOR CLASSIFICATION

Studying just 1 or 2 organisms is not enough to know vital features of a group.
• All kinds of organisms do not occur in one locality.
• Helps in knowing the relationship between the different groups of organisms.
• Helps in knowing the evolutionary relationship between organisms
CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS

• A. Two Kingdom Classification System proposed by Linnaeus (1758)

• He is also known as the father of taxonomy system
• He divided all the living organisms into two kingdoms.
• These are Plantae and Animalia.
 CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

B. Three Kingdom Classification System

• In the year 1866, Ernst Haeckel, classified living organisms into three kingdoms i.e. Plantae, Protista,
and Animalia. The new kingdom Protista included all those organisms, which lack the capability of
tissue differentiation. This group included algae, fungi, and Protozoa. Later, kingdom Protista was
reserved only for the unicellular organism.
• Limitations of Three Kingdom Classification System
• No separation of Prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
• Both unicellular and multicellular organisms are classified under Protista.
 CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

C. Four Kingdom Classification System proposed by Copeland (1956)

• In addition to Protista, Plantae and Animalia, the four kingdom classification system included Monera.
• The studies with electron microscope made it clear that bacteria and related organisms have a different
nuclear structure as compared to others.
• These are the prokaryotes
• Introduction of the kingdom-Monera.
• Fungi continued to remain with Plantae in this system.
 CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

D. Five Kingdom Classification System proposed by R.H. Whittaker (1969)

• Separate group for fungi.
The primary criterion for classification here were:
• Cell structure
• Modes of nutrition
• Reproduction
• Thallus organization
• Phylogenetic relationships
 CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
• E. Six Kingdom Classification System proposed by Carl Woese (1990)
• It was also known as the three-domain system as in it organism classification was done in three domains, i.e.,
Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya.
• It majorly used the basic principles of the five kingdom system but divides the Monera into two domains
• Archaebacteria,
• Eubacteria and
• other eukaryotes in the third kingdom.
 ARCHAEBACTERIA, BACTERIA AND EUKARYA

• 1. Archaea; Archaea domain includes prokaryotic organisms. These have a monolayer core of
lipids in the cell membrane and distinct nucleotides in their 16S RNA. It contains a single kingdom
called Archaebacteria. This kingdom includes early prokaryotes. These are methanogens, halophiles
and thermoacidophiles.
• 2. Bacteria: The bacteria domain consists of typical prokaryotes that lack membrane covered cell
organelles. These do not have microchambers for separating various metabolic activities. It also has a
single kingdom-Eubacteria.
• 3. Eukarya: The domain eukarya contain all the eukaryotes.
• The four kingdoms of this domain are: Protista, Animalia, Plantae, Fungi
 PHYLOGENY AND CLADISTICS

• Phylogeny is a kind of classification in which organisms can be

classified with the help of their basic physical traits
• Phylogeny involves making groups with the help of
physical characteristics of organisms, but cladistics
talks about the actual traits of the organisms
• Phylogeny is presented with the help of a tree
diagram known as a phylogenetic tree. It’s a pattern
in use to show the evolutionary past of organisms.
• Cladistics is a method of hypothesizing relationships
among organisms
• Cladistic classification includes the comparison of traits of one
species with another and finding similarities among ancestors to
create a relationship
Phylogenetic tree
CLADISTICS

• Clades are based on cladistics classification.

• A clade is a group of organisms that includes an ancestor and its descendants.
• Types: Monophyletic, Paraphyletic and Polyphyletic
• Monophyletic: monophyletic clades means a group of organisms with a
single clade in it. Here you will find only one ancestor for many
descendants.
• Paraphyletic: this clade includes an ancestor and multiple descendants,
removing some 2-3 groups.
• Polyphyletic: in this clade, organisms possess homoplasy traits. It means
organisms in a group show similar characteristics, but they don’t.
CHARACTERISTICS OF ANIMALIA
FEATURES OF KINGDOM ANIMALIA
• The cell wall is absent.
• There are no inorganic crystals present in their cells.
• Central vacuole is absent.
• Growth is limited and well-defined growing points are not present.
• Heterotrophic mode of nutrition is used.
• Show quick response to external stimuli.
• The muscular system is present.
• Locomotion is present.
• Excretory organs, nervous system and sense organs are present.
• Reserve food as glycogen.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANTS
FEATURES OF KINGDOM PLANTAE
• They have a cell wall.
• Autotrophic mode of nutrition is followed. The reserve food is starch.
• A big central vacuole is present.
• There aren’t any excretory organs, nervous system, sense organs and muscular system.
• No locomotion is seen except in some lower algae.
• Plantae absorbs inorganic nutrients from outside.
• They experience unlimited growth but have well-defined growing points.
• The response to external stimuli is slow.
• Kingdom-Eubacteria
• The members of this kingdom have peptidoglycan cell wall, naked DNA in coiled form,
glycogen food reserves.
• There is no sap vacuole and 70S ribosomes are present.
• The members of this kingdom are bacteria, mycoplasma, Actinomycetes, rickettsiae,
spirochaetes, cyanobacteria, Firmicutes.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

How are clades classified

Why is it important to classify organisms
How can we consider two animals to belong to same species