bio

• Biology is the science of life forms and living processes
• The living world comprises an amazing diversity of living organisms
• Early man could easily perceive the difference between inanimate matter and living organisms
• Early man deified some of the inanimate matter (wind, sea, fire etc.) and some among the animals and plants
• A common feature of all such forms of inanimate and animate objects was the sense of awe or fear that they evoked
• The description of living organisms including human beings began much later in human history
• Societies which indulged in anthropocentric view of biology could register limited progress in biological knowledge
• Systematic and monumental description of life forms brought in, out of necessity, detailed systems of identification, nomenclature and classification
• The biggest spin off of such studies was the recognition of the sharing of similarities among living organisms both horizontally and vertically
• All present day living organisms are related to each other and also to all organisms that ever lived on this earth, was a revelation which humbled man and led to cultural movements for conservation of biodiversity
• In the following chapters of this unit, you will get a description, including classification, of animals and plants from a taxonomist's perspective
• Diversity in the Living World

  Chapter 1
• The Living World


  Chapter 1
• Biological Classification


  Chapter 2
• Plant Kingdom


  Chapter 3
• Animal Kingdom


  Chapter 4
• Ernst Mayr was born in Kempten, Germany

  5 July 1904
• Ernst Mayr, the Harvard University evolutionary biologist who has been called 'The Darwin of the 20th century', was one of the 100 greatest scientists of all time
• Mayr joined Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences in 1953 and retired in 1975, assuming the title Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology Emeritus
• Throughout his nearly 80-year career, his research spanned ornithology, taxonomy, zoogeography, evolution, systematics, and the history and philosophy of biology
• Mayr almost single-handedly made the origin of species diversity the central question of evolutionary biology that it is today
• Mayr pioneered the currently accepted definition of a biological species
• Mayr was awarded the three prizes widely regarded as the triple crown of biology: the Balzan Prize in 1983, the International Prize for Biology in 1994, and the Crafoord Prize in 1999
• Ernst Mayr died at the age of 100


  2004
• The wide range of living types is amazing
• The extraordinary habitats in which we find living organisms, be it cold mountains, deciduous forests, oceans, fresh water lakes, deserts or hot springs, leave us speechless
• The beauty of a galloping horse, of the migrating birds, the valley of flowers or the attacking shark evokes awe and a deep sense of wonder
• The ecological conflict and cooperation among members of a population and among populations of a community or even the molecular traffic inside a cell make us deeply reflect on – what indeed is life?
• The first question is a technical one and seeks answer to what living is as opposed to the non-living, and the second is a philosophical one, and seeks answer to what the purpose of life is
• As scientists, we shall not attempt answering the second question. We will try to reflect on – what is living?
• If you look around you will see a large variety of living organisms, be it potted plants, insects, birds, your pets or other animals and plants
• There are also several organisms that you cannot see with your naked eye but they are all around you
• If you were to increase the area that you make observations in, the range and variety of organisms that you see would increase
• Each different kind of plant, animal or organism that you see, represents a species
• The number of species that are known and described range between 1.7-1.8 million
• Biodiversity


  The number and types of organisms present on earth
• As we explore new areas, and even old ones, new organisms are continuously being identified
• There is a need to standardise the naming of living organisms such that a particular organism is known by the same name all over the world
• Nomenclature


  The process of naming living organisms
• Identification is the process of correctly describing an organism to which a name is attached