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#	Question	Answer
1	What is biology?	Biology is the science of life forms and living processes.
2	What does the living world comprise?	The living world comprises an amazing diversity of living organisms.
3	What distinction could early man easily perceive?	Early man could perceive the difference between inanimate matter and living organisms.
4	Name some inanimate objects deified by early man.	Wind, sea and fire.
5	What common feature was shared by many animate and inanimate objects for early man?	They evoked a sense of awe or fear.
6	What systems developed from the systematic description of life forms?	Systems of identification, nomenclature and classification.
7	What was the biggest spin-off of studies on living organisms?	Recognition of similarities shared among living organisms horizontally and vertically.
8	What revelation led to movements for conservation of biodiversity?	That all present-day living organisms are related to each other and to all organisms that ever lived on Earth.
9	What central question of evolutionary biology did Ernst Mayr emphasize?	The origin of species diversity.
10	What important biological concept did Ernst Mayr pioneer?	The currently accepted definition of a biological species.
11	Name the three major biology prizes awarded to Ernst Mayr.	Balzan Prize (1983), International Prize for Biology (1994), and Crafoord Prize (1999).
12	What happens to the variety of organisms when the observation area increases?	The range and variety of organisms increase.
13	Why would a dense forest contain more kinds of organisms?	Because dense forests have a greater number and kinds of living organisms.
14	What does each different kind of plant, animal, or organism represent?	A species.
15	How many species are known and described according to the text?	Between 1.7 to 1.8 million species.
16	What is biodiversity?	The number and types of organisms present on Earth.
17	What continues to happen as new and old areas are explored?	New organisms are continuously identified.
18	Why do local names of plants and animals create confusion?	Because local names vary from place to place, even within a country.
19	Why is there a need to standardise the naming of living organisms?	So that a particular organism is known by the same name all over the world.
20	What is nomenclature?	The process of standardising the naming of living organisms.
21	What is identification in biology?	Correctly describing an organism and knowing to which organism the name belongs.
22	What is the role of scientists in scientific naming?	They establish procedures to assign scientific names to organisms.
23	What does ICBN stand for?	International Code for Botanical Nomenclature.
24	What does ICZN stand for?	International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.
25	Why are scientific names important?	They ensure each organism has only one universally accepted name.
26	What are the two components of a scientific name?	Generic name and specific epithet.
27	What is Binomial nomenclature?	A system of naming organisms using two components.
28	Who introduced binomial nomenclature?	Carolus Linnaeus.
29	What is the scientific name of mango?	*Mangifera indica*.
30	In which language are biological names generally written?	Latin.
31	How are biological names written in print?	In italics.
32	How are biological names written when handwritten?	The two words are separately underlined.
33	Which part of a biological name begins with a capital letter?	The genus name.
34	Which part of a biological name begins with a small letter?	The specific epithet.
35	In biological nomenclature, how does the genus name begin?	With a capital letter.
36	In biological nomenclature, how does the specific epithet begin?	With a small letter.
37	Give an example illustrating genus and specific epithet formatting.	*Mangifera indica*.
38	Why is classification necessary?	Because it is nearly impossible to study all living organisms individually.
39	What is classification?	The process by which anything is grouped into convenient categories based on easily observable characters.
40	What is the scientific term for categories used in classification?	Taxa.
41	What do taxa represent?	Categories at different levels.
42	Give examples of taxa mentioned in the text.	Plants, animals, mammals, dogs, wheat, rice, and cats.
43	What does the example of dogs and mammals show about taxa?	Taxa can exist at different hierarchical levels.
44	What is taxonomy?	The process of classification of living organisms into different taxa based on characteristics.
45	Which features form the basis of modern taxonomic studies?	External and internal structure, cell structure, developmental process, and ecological information.
46	Which four processes are basic to taxonomy?	Characterisation, identification, classification, and nomenclature.
47	On what basis were the earliest classifications made?	Uses of various organisms.
48	What is systematics?	The branch of study dealing with different kinds of organisms, their diversities, and relationships among them.
49	What title did Linnaeus use for his publication?	*Systema Naturae*.
50	What was later included in the scope of systematics?	Identification, nomenclature, and classification.
51	What relationships does systematics take into account?	Evolutionary relationships between organisms.
52	What does taxonomic category mean?	A category that is part of the overall taxonomic arrangement.
53	What is taxonomic hierarchy?	All taxonomic categories together constitute the taxonomic hierarchy.
54	What is a taxon?	A rank or unit of classification.
55	Why are insects considered a taxonomic category?	Because they are organisms sharing common features like three pairs of jointed legs.
56	What common taxonomic categories developed from studies of organisms?	Kingdom, phylum/division, class, order, family, genus, and species.
57	Which is the lowest taxonomic category?	Species.
58	What is the basic requirement for placing organisms into categories?	Knowledge of the characters of organisms.
59	What helps in identifying similarities and dissimilarities among organisms?	Knowledge of characters of individuals or groups of organisms.
60	What is a species according to taxonomic studies?	A group of individual organisms with fundamental similarities.
61	On what basis can one species be distinguished from another closely related species?	Distinct morphological differences.
62	Give examples of scientific names mentioned under species.	*Mangifera indica*, *Solanum tuberosum*, and *Panthera leo*.
63	What is the scientific name of human beings?	*Homo sapiens*.
64	What is a genus?	A genus comprises a group of related species with more characters in common compared to species of other genera.
65	What are genera considered to be?	Aggregates of closely related species.
66	Which genus do potato and brinjal belong to?	*Solanum*.
67	Name the species of the genus *Panthera* mentioned in the text.	Lion (*Panthera leo*), leopard (*P. pardus*), and tiger (*P. tigris*).
68	Which genus includes cats?	*Felis*.
69	What is a family in taxonomy?	A family is a group of related genera with fewer similarities than genus and species.
70	On what basis are plant families characterised?	Vegetative and reproductive features.
71	Name the genera included in the family Solanaceae.	*Solanum*, *Petunia*, and *Datura*.
72	Which family includes the genera *Panthera* and *Felis*?	Felidae.
73	What is an order in taxonomy?	An order is an assemblage of families exhibiting a few similar characters.
74	How are higher taxonomic categories generally identified?	Based on aggregates of characters.
75	Which plant families are included in the order Polymoniales?	Convolvulaceae and Solanaceae.
76	On what basis are Convolvulaceae and Solanaceae included in Polymoniales?	Mainly on floral characters.
77	Which families are included in the animal order Carnivora?	Felidae and Canidae.
78	What does a class include in taxonomy?	Related orders.
79	Which animals are included in the order Primata?	Monkey, gorilla, and gibbon.
80	In which class is the order Primata placed?	Mammalia.
81	Which animals are included in the order Carnivora?	Tiger, cat, and dog.
82	What is a phylum?	A higher category comprising classes with common features.
83	Which animals are included in the phylum Chordata?	Fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
84	Which common features characterise members of phylum Chordata?	Presence of notochord and dorsal hollow neural system.
85	What is the corresponding higher category for plants similar to phylum in animals?	Division.
86	What is the highest category in animal classification?	Kingdom Animalia.
87	What does Kingdom Plantae comprise?	All plants from various divisions.
88	In the taxonomic hierarchy, what happens to common characteristics as we move from species to kingdom?	The number of common characteristics decreases.
89	What is true about lower taxa?	Members within lower taxa share more characteristics.
90	Why does classification become more complex at higher categories?	Because determining relationships to other taxa becomes more difficult.
91	What is the biological name of man?	*Homo sapiens*.
92	What is the genus of man?	*Homo*.
93	What family does man belong to?	Hominidae.
94	What order does man belong to?	Primata.
95	What class does man belong to?	Mammalia.
96	What phylum does man belong to?	Chordata.
97	What is the biological name of housefly?	*Musca domestica*.
98	What family does housefly belong to?	Muscidae.
99	What class does housefly belong to?	Insecta.
100	What phylum does housefly belong to?	Arthropoda.
101	What is the biological name of mango?	*Mangifera indica*.
102	What family does mango belong to?	Anacardiaceae.
103	What order does mango belong to?	Sapindales.
104	What division does mango belong to?	Angiospermae.
105	What is the biological name of wheat?	*Triticum aestivum*.
106	What family does wheat belong to?	Poaceae.
107	What order does wheat belong to?	Poales.
108	What class does wheat belong to?	Monocotyledonae.
109	What division does wheat belong to?	Angiospermae.
110	What is the living world rich in?	Variety.
111	What has been identified and described in large numbers?	Millions of plants and animals.
112	Which features of organisms make us seek defining characteristics of living organisms?	Size, colour, habitat, physiological features, and morphological features.
113	Why have biologists evolved rules and principles for organisms?	To facilitate the study of kinds and diversity of organisms.
114	Which branch of knowledge deals with identification, nomenclature, and classification?	Taxonomy.
115	In which fields are taxonomic studies useful?	Agriculture, forestry, industry, and understanding bio-resources and biodiversity.
116	What are the basics of taxonomy mentioned in the summary?	Identification, naming, and classification of organisms.
117	Under what are the basics of taxonomy universally evolved?	International codes.
118	On what basis is an organism assigned a correct scientific name?	Resemblances and distinct differences.
119	What does the binomial system of nomenclature use?	Two words for scientific/biological names.
120	What does an organism occupy in the system of classification?	A place or position.
121	What are taxonomic categories or taxa?	Categories/ranks in classification.
122	What do all taxonomic categories together constitute?	A taxonomic hierarchy.
123	Which scientific name of mango is correctly written?	*Mangifera indica*.