Biology Taxonomy Basics

Study Notes

Scientific names consist of two words; the first is the genus (capitalized) and the second is the species (lowercase).
Both parts are written in Latin, either in italics or underlined.
Example: Humans are named Homo sapiens, where Homo is the genus and sapiens is the species.

Kingdom: The largest grouping of living organisms sharing common features, subdivided into phyla (e.g., Plant Kingdom, Animal Kingdom).
Phylum: Groups organisms with similar characteristics, further divided into classes (e.g., Phylum Arthropoda).
Class: Categories within a phylum that share traits and are divided into orders (e.g., Class Insects, Class Arachnids).
Order: A subdivision of classes, organized into families.
Family: Groups of related organisms classified into genera.
Genus: Comprises species with shared traits, which can be further divided into individual species.
Species: A group of organisms with common characteristics capable of breeding to produce fertile offspring (e.g., humans, cats, dogs).

Respiration: Chemical reactions in living cells that break down nutrients to release energy for metabolic activities.
Nutrition: The intake of organic substances and minerals for growth, tissue repair, development, and energy production.
Excretion: The removal of toxic substances, metabolic waste, and excess materials from the body.
Metabolism: Refers to the total of chemical reactions within cells, including respiration.
Growth: A permanent increase in an organism's size and mass, measured by the increase in cell number or size after removing water content.
Reproduction: The biological processes that result in the production of more organisms of the same kind.
Movement (Locomotion): Any action by an organism causing a change in position or place.
Sensitivity: The capability to sense and respond to changes in the internal or external environment; stimuli are the triggers for response.

Scientific names consist of two words; the first is the genus (capitalized) and the second is the species (lowercase).
Both parts are written in Latin, either in italics or underlined.
Example: Humans are named Homo sapiens, where Homo is the genus and sapiens is the species.

Kingdom: The largest grouping of living organisms sharing common features, subdivided into phyla (e.g., Plant Kingdom, Animal Kingdom).
Phylum: Groups organisms with similar characteristics, further divided into classes (e.g., Phylum Arthropoda).
Class: Categories within a phylum that share traits and are divided into orders (e.g., Class Insects, Class Arachnids).
Order: A subdivision of classes, organized into families.
Family: Groups of related organisms classified into genera.
Genus: Comprises species with shared traits, which can be further divided into individual species.
Species: A group of organisms with common characteristics capable of breeding to produce fertile offspring (e.g., humans, cats, dogs).

Respiration: Chemical reactions in living cells that break down nutrients to release energy for metabolic activities.
Nutrition: The intake of organic substances and minerals for growth, tissue repair, development, and energy production.
Excretion: The removal of toxic substances, metabolic waste, and excess materials from the body.
Metabolism: Refers to the total of chemical reactions within cells, including respiration.
Growth: A permanent increase in an organism's size and mass, measured by the increase in cell number or size after removing water content.
Reproduction: The biological processes that result in the production of more organisms of the same kind.
Movement (Locomotion): Any action by an organism causing a change in position or place.
Sensitivity: The capability to sense and respond to changes in the internal or external environment; stimuli are the triggers for response.