The Living World Test 3

The various conventions followed while writing Binomial nomenclature are:

• The first letter of the genus name must be capital and the first letter of the species name must be a small letter.
• Scientific names must be underlined separately when written by hand.
• In printed matter, these names are printed in Italic and underlined when handwritten.

So, the correct option is 'Both genus and species are printed in italics'.

• All organisms share common genetic material, i.e., DNA and RNA. However, it can vary to certain degrees.
• In fact, the whole theory of evolution is based on the similarity of genetic materials which indicates common ancestry for living organisms. Variations in the similarity of genetic material give biodiversity which we see all around us.

The generic epithet should start with capital letter and specific epithet should start with small letter with a gap separating them. Nomenclature should be either derived from Latin or should be Latinized. It may also contain description about the organism like the name of the scientist who has done major works related to that organism.

Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the mordern biological naming scheme of biological nomenclature. He is known as the father of taxonomy and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology. In botany, the author abbreviation used to indicate Linnaeus as the authority for the species name. In older publications, sometimes the abbreviation "Linn" is found.

• As we go higher from species to kingdom, the number of common characteristics goes on decreasing.
• Lower the taxa, more are the characteristics that the members within the taxon share.
• Higher the category, greater is the difficulty of determining the relationship to other taxa at the same level.

In 1866, Ernst Haeckel coined the term 'phylum' for the classification of animals. It is the category below the Kingdom and is made up of various classes sharing common features. The same category is called the 'division' for plant classification and this term was given by August W. Eichler in 1883.

• Ernst Haeckel coined the term 'phylum'.
• John Ray established the category of 'species'.
• G.L. Cuvier was the proponent of catastrophism in geology in the early 19th century.
• Carolus Linnaeus gave binomial nomenclature.

Hence, the correct answer is 'E. Haeckel'

( The term phylum was coined by G.L. Cuvier. He suggested the term phylum in the taxonomy classification. Various organisms are placed in different phylums according to the main criteria known as the basis of classification.)

Taxonomic classification is a multi-step process, these taxons are in order and hence also called taxonomic hierarchy. It depends upon the characteristics of the organisms and includes their similarities and differences in them.

• Species: this taxonomic category contains a group of individuals that have common fundamental similarities. Species can be distinct from one another by morphological differences.
• Genus: this taxonomic classification contains a group of related species. These species have a few common characters among themselves. For example, the genus Felis includes all cats. The genus Panthera includes P.tigris, P.pardus, P.leo; these are tiger, leopard, and lion respectively.
• Family: this taxonomic category has a group of related genera, families are classified on two bases in plants, the vegetative and the reproductive structures. In animals they are based on morphological similarities between two genera, the similarities are less than at species and genus level example, house cats and lions both come under the family Felidae, dogs and wolves both come under the family Canidae.
• Order: this taxonomic category has a group of related families, these are identified based on aggregated characters. Families that exhibit similar characters are placed under a single order. Felidae and Canidae both come under the order Carnivora
• Class: this taxonomic category comprises related orders. The class Mammalia includes Primata and Carnivora which are composed of monkeys, humans, gorillas, gibbons, and tiger dogs, cats, and wolves. The class Mammalia has many more orders on it.
• Phylum: this taxonomic category comprises many classes. These phyla are classified on the basis of fundamental features like the presence of the notochord and are classified under phylum Chordata.
• Kingdom: this is the highest taxonomic classification and consists of many phyla. The Kingdom Animalia consists of all heterotrophic multicellular eukaryotic animals.

So, the correct answer is 'Division - class - order - family - genus - species.'

In fungal, algal, and botanical nomenclature, the family names of plants, fungi, and algae end with the suffix "-ceae".

• Royal Botanical Garden, Kew  - England
• Indian Botanical Garden - Howrah
• National Botanical Research Institute - Lucknow
• Lloyd Botanical Garden - Darjeeling

So, the correct option is 'A-(ii), B-(iii), C-(i), D-(iv)'.

• Solanum tuberosum (Potato) (Species: Tuberosum; Genus: Solanum)
• Ipomoea batatas (Sweet potato) (Species: Batatas; Genus: Ipomoea)
• Phaseolus vulgaris (Beans) (Species: Vulgaris; Genus: Phaseolus)
• Daucus carota subsp. Sativus (Carrot) (Species: Carota; Genus: Daucus).

• Tritica aestivum (Wheat) (Species: Aestivum; Genus: Tritica)
• Musca domestica (House fly) (Species: Domestica; Genus: Musca)
• Oryza sativa (Rice) (Species: Sativa; Genus: Oryza)
• Glycine max (Soybean) (Species: Max; Genus: Glycine).

It’s necessary that binomial nomenclature is written in italics with generic epithet starting with capital letter and specific epithet written in small letter.

Since the first word in a binomial nomenclature refers to the generic epithet and the second word to generic epithet, here Homo becomes the genus and Sapiens will be the genus. Homo sapiens belong to the family Homindae and class Mammalia.

Herbarium sheets are used to preserve dried plant specimens that are pressed against the sheets and are helpful in taxonomical study. Also these are one of the most familiar taxonomical aids used by taxonomists.

Zoological parks are taxonomical aids to study and categorize animals. Herbarium, Botanical Garden and Flora are taxonomical aids to study plant kingdom.

• Felidae is the family to which lion, tiger, leopard and cats etc. belong to.
• Canidae refers to the family to which wolves, dog, jackals and foxes etc. belong to.
• Panthera refers to the genus to which lion, tiger and leopard belong to.
• Mammalia is a class of animals which includes all the milk-feeding animals like dogs, cats, humans, bats etc.