Chapter

Diversity in Living Organism

There are so many plants and animals groups of them on the basis of differences
around us. We know very little about them. and similarities found among them. This
Most of them belong to a world not visible helped to identify largely varied and closely
to the unaided eye, as you have already related groups of organisms.
studied in the chapter on, ‘Microbial Thus our knowledge of the entire living
World’. The types of organisms that we have world depends on first making meaningful
studied so far are also in lakhs! Existing from groups to carry out our study in a systematic
mountain peaks to deserts and to the deep manner.
oceans, from extreme cold conditions to In this lesson we will try to study the
extreme hot ones and many more, such diversity present among several living
diversity is the symbol of nature. organisms, classify and appreciate natures’
Studying about diversity as it is, would miracle.
be a very chaotic and difficult task.
Moreover describing and naming each
Diversity in plants
organism individually without knowing the Activity-1
organisms that might be sharing common
characteristics would be insignificant. Thus Observation of plants
people who have tried to study diverse Collect leaves from different plants.
organisms in nature have tried to make Observe them carefully and fill the table.
S.No. Name of the Length Width of Colour of Shape/Size Margin of Venation
plant (the of the the leaf the leaf of the leaf the leaf of the
leaf of which leaf leaf
is taken)

50 Diversity in Living Organism

 Could you find any two leaves Activity-2
which are similar with respect to
any of the characters, size, shape, Observation of external characters
colour or any other as mentioned of plants (monocot and dicot)
in the table? Collect at least five different plants (at
Note down the differences you least two must be either grass, maize, paddy
observed in the sample of leaves etc. plants) with flowers from your
collected by you. Write two such surroundings. Observe their external
characters that differed most. characters carefully. Draw the following
To study more about such table in your notebook and note down your
characters let us do another findings. You can also do this with as many
activity. flowering plants as possible.

S. Name of Length Length Leaf Flower No. of No. of Taproot/

No. the plant of the between venation Single/ petals sepals fibrous
Stem nodes born in root
group

Which characters given above collected by you and note down

varied most? some other characters not
Select a character mentioned above mentioned in the table.
which shows minimum diversity. Did you notice any two plants
Did you find any similarities? What which were alike with regard to the
were they? above characteristics? If not, note
Did you find patterns like –plants down what differences you found?
with fibrous roots had flowers Note down some similar characters
borne in groups? Note some other that you have observed.
patterns that you may have We can see that there are several
observed. characters that we can choose to make
Carefully observe the plants groups of plants, some groups would have

Free distribution by A.P. Government 51

many plants taken in our sample, while day and observe them carefully. Take a
some would have just a few. maize seed and press it between your
So far we have discussed about plants fingers . Does a small whitish structure
and their leaves but what about their seeds? come out? Actually maize seeds from fresh
You know that seeds look different. But soft corn cobs would easily let this
if we open them would they show similar structure out. Observe it carefully. It is the
structural make up or completely different baby plant /embryo. The portion left in your
ones? hand within the seed coat has a single
To find out more about this let us do cotyledon(or seed leaf). Repeat the activity
the following activity. with soaked whole grains of wheat and rice
and the other seeds as well.
Activity-3 Use a hand lense for your careful and
Observation of seeds close observations. Make a table like the
Collect some seeds from the plants of one given below in your copy and note down
green gram, red gram, Bengal gram, wheat, your observations in the table.
paddy, groundnut, maize. Soak them for a

S. Name Colour Shape/size No. of Others

No. cotyledons(seed
leaves )
1.

2.

3.
4.

5.

In case you do not know names The following activity leads us into the
write a number or give name on systematic way of grouping. You will again
your own. need the soaked and softened seeds for this
Note down what differences that you purpose.
observed. Open the given seeds. When you try to
Name any character as mentioned in the do this with peanut seeds, two thick
table that helped you to roughly divide the portions come out which are its cotyledons.
sample of seeds into two groups. See if you find such structures in other
seeds taken by you. If needed, you can take
help of hand lens as well.

52 Diversity in Living Organism

 Activity-4
Observation of different characters in monocot and dicot plants
Collect the plants or pictures of the whole plants to complete the following table( you
can take the help of annexure to this chapter as well)
S. Name of the plant Leaf venation No.of cotyledons / Tap root system or
No. seed leaves fibrous root system
1. Maize
2. Paddy
3. Grass
4. Beans
5. Green gram
6. Ground nut
Here as we finish our activity we would They share some common
have established some common characteristics like venation (dicots have
characteristics of land plants- those having reticulate/branched, while monocots have
two seed leaves are called dicotyledons, parallel venation).
while those having single seed leaf are By doing the above activity we can
called monocotyledons. understand how grouping is done in biology
by observing the similarities and
differences among diverse groups in the
sample under study. We will do some
similar exercises with animals now.
Diversity in animals
Activity-5
Observation of external characters
of insects
Collect housefly, mosquito, ant, dung
beetle, butterfly, moth and cockroach from
your surroundings. Observe them carefully.
Take the help of a magnifying glass to get a
closer view.
Are all insects of the same size or
Fig-1 shape?
Free distribution by A.P. Government 53
S. Name of the No. of No. of Colour Shape/Size body parts Other
No. Insect Legs Wings (Segmentation) characters

What differences did you observe The examples of insects given above
with regard to legs? are of different species. Hence they show
What differences did you observe a lot of difference and we say they are
with regard to wings? diverse. If we were to compare insects of
Is there any relationship between the same type that is to say two houseflies
the number of wings and legs? we would perhaps still find some
Did you find any two insects with same differences(try it out yourself) and these
characters? If yes, display in the class. If would be variations.
no, note down the differences in your note Let us see some variations that are
book. present in human populations
Even though all these are insects and Variations in humans
you see that they show several differences. Activity-6
Can you find at least one character that is
similar to the whole group, what is it? Variation in animals (external
How would you group insects? Would characters)
it be based on number of body segments or
Do this activity in a group of atleast 10
number of legs they have?
children. Draw the table in your notebook
and fill it.

S. Name of the Height Weight Lenth of Thumb Palm

No. Student fore finger Impression Length Width

54 Diversity in Living Organism

 After observing the table try to answer Is there any other structure in the human
the following questions. body that is as unique as the thumb
Which character helps you to make the impression? What is it?
maximum number of groups? We have seen variations in animals let
Which character helps you to have just us see how we could study the same in
a single individual in a group? plants.
Compare your group table with that of Variations in plants
other groups and note down the differences
you found. Activity-7
Did you find same observations of any
Variation in two different neem
two students in your class?
plants
You might have observed that no two
thumb impressions are alike. It is a very Collect two small almost equal sized
specific character of an individual. neem plants from your surroundings
observe them carefully and fill the table.

S. Name of the Length No. of Size / Shape Colour of Margin Venation

No. Plant of the Leaves of the the Leaves
stem Leaves
1. Neemplant -1

2. Neemplant -2

What differences could you find in Variation between different species is

the similar looking neem plants? always greater than the variation within a
Why do you think such differences species. As we have observed so far,
are present in nature? variation forms a basis for selection of
So far we have done some activities to characters to group organisms. Grouping
study, appreciate and group living organisms on the basis of certain
organisms on the basis of the diversity and characters which vary over populations
variations present in nature. Several indicating some common lineage of each
exercises have been done to select varied group , or the way in which the
characters to group organisms on the basis organism may have evolved is
of similarities and differences between classification. Thus classification in
them. The presence of differences between biology is the systematic study of
organisms of the same species is called organisms present in nature with respect
variation. to their evolution.

Free distribution by A.P. Government 55

What is the need of classification? see today had variations that accumulated
over years to allow the organism possessing
It gives better knowledge and better
them to survive better. Charles Darwin first
understanding of organisms that are
wrote about this in his book, “The Origin
studied.
of Species”in 1859. When we connect the
It helps to study the organisms in a
idea of evolution to classification we find
proper and systematic manner.
in some groups of organisms, the body
It helps to make comparison in an
designs have not changed over the years
easier way.
while several organisms have acquired body
It helps in understanding the
designs relatively
relationship among the organisms
recently. Since
and their interdependence.
complexity of
Classification makes our study design has
more focused and helps us to increased over the
handle huge population of years and is yet to
organisms. increase, we may
It gives us an idea of evolution say that older
(How organisms have evolved in organisms are
nature?). simpler as
Classification and evolution compared to the
younger. Charless Darwin
All living things are identified and
categorized on the basis of their their
structure and function. Some History of classification
characteristics are likely to make more
In India, classification had been the
wide-ranging changes in body design than
basis of studies in medicines and dates back
others. There is a role of time in this as
to first and second century A.D. Charak and
well. So, once a certain body design comes
Sushrut had classified the plants on the
into existence, it will shape the effects of
basis of their medical importance. There
all other subsequent design changes, simply
after Parasar in his book ‘Vrikshyurveda’
because it already exists. In other words,
(The science of life of trees) documented
characteristics that came into existence
the classification system for several land
earlier are likely to be more basic than
plants for the first time. This classification
characteristics that have come into
mainly deals with the structure of the
existence later.
flowers
This means that the classification of
Let us study how biologist from 16th
life forms are closely related to their
century have been trying to classify diverse
evolution. Evolution is the process of
organisms so far.
acquiring change. Most life forms that we
56 Diversity in Living Organism
Classification done by biologists till date:
The following table shows how different biologists have gone about forming the first
category in classification..

Linnaeus Haeckel Chatton Copeland Whittaker Woese et al. Cavalier-Smith

1735 1866 1925 1938 1969 1990 1998
2 kingdoms 3kingdoms 2empires 4 kingdoms 5 kingdoms 3 domains 6 kingdoms
Prokaryota Monera Monera Bacteria Bacteria
Archaea
(not treated) Protista
Protoctista Protista Protozoa
Chromista
Plantae Plantae
Eukaryota Eukarya
Vegetabilia Plantae Plantae Fungi Fungi

Animalia Animalia Animalia Animalia Animalia

Although biologists in the 16th and family, order,

seventeenth centuries did not recognize class, phyla etc
that the similarities and differences among were defined by
organisms were consequences of Linneaus on the
evolutionary mechanisms, they still sought basis of the
a means to organize biological diversity. In similarities and
1758 Carl Linneaus proposed a system that differences studied
has dominated classification for centuries. by him in groups of
Carl VanLinneaus
Linnaeus gave each organism two names, organisms.
denoting genus and species such as Homo The first major break from the Linnaean
sapiens(the former representing genus model came from Thomas Whittaker. In
while the latter representing species). He 1969 Whittaker proposed a "five kingdom"
then grouped genera(several genus) into system in which three kingdoms were
families, families into orders, orders into added to the animals and plants: Monera
classes, classes into phyla, and phyla into (bacteria), Protista, and Fungi. Whittaker
kingdoms. Linnaeus identified two defined the kingdoms by a number of
kingdoms: Animalia (animals) and Plantae special characteristics. First, he specified
(plants). All the terms like species, genus, whether the organisms possessed a true

Free distribution by A.P. Government 57

nucleus (eukaryotic) or not (prokaryotic). places where the temperatures were near
The eukaryotic unicellular organisms were or even above the boiling point of water
placed into the kingdom Protista. The rest (the thermophiles). Others, the extreme
were three multicellular eukaryotic halophiles, were able to tolerate very high
kingdoms that distinguish themselves by the salt concentrations. Other techniques like
general manner in which they acquire food. DNA (the chemical of design of life)
Plants are generally autotrophs and use sequence data also increasingly suggested
photosynthetic systems to capture energy that these prokaryotes were most unlike
from sunlight. Animals are heterotrophs the traditional bacteria. Thus other
and acquire nutrients by ingesting plants or modifications in the classification scheme
other animals, and then digesting those came into existence.
materials. Fungi are also heterotrophs but,
Do you know?
unlike animals, they generally break down
large organic molecules in their There are various hypotheses as to
environment and live on them. the origin of prokaryotic and eukaryotic
The five kingdom system was certainly cells. Because all cells are similar in
an advance over the previous system nature, it is generally thought that all cells
because it captured the diversity of life in came from a common ancestor cell
a better way. Three groups bacteria, fungi, termed the Last Universal Common
and protists - did not fit well into either Ancestor (LUCA). These LUCA
the animal or plant category. Moreover, eventually evolved into three different
each of these three groups appeared to cell types, each representing a domain.
possess diversity comparable to that of The three domains are the Archaea, the
animals or plants. Thus, the designation of Bacteria, and the Eukarya (a classification
each as a kingdom seemed fitting. as suggested by Woese).
In the years since Whittaker's system Archaea and bacteria are prokaryotic
was developed, however, new evidence and cells that is they do not have a membrane
new methods have shown that the five- bound nucleus, the nuclear material is
kingdom system also fails to adequately present dispersed in cytoplasm.
capture what we now know about the The cell walls of bacteria unlike the
diversity of life. Microbial biologists archaea contain a fat like chemical
became aware of these limitations as they peptidoglycan..
discovered unicellular organisms that Eukarya have eukaryotic cells or
appeared to be prokaryotic, but were cells having a membrane bound nucleus.
extremely distinct in their internal
structure and other characteristics from the The hierarchy of classification
traditional bacteria. Some of these unusual Classification is done starting from
prokaryotes lived in hot springs and other grouping living organisms into domains for

58 Diversity in Living Organism

example prokaryota, Life
A. One-celled organisms
eukaryota, archaea B. Cells have no membrane bound nucleus
which form the largest C. Reproduce by splitting in two
categories with D. Absorb nutrients from outside their
several dissimilar and bodies
few similar characters E. They move with the help of
to species forming the locomotory organs like flagella, cilia
smallest category or hair like structures present on them.
with several similar
F. Some monerans cause diseases, but
and few dissimilar
others are helpful to people.
characters. Broadly, a
G. Examples: bacteria
species includes all
organisms that are Fig-2 Heirarchy
similar enough to
interbreed and perpetuate or even
individually reproduce
Why do you think classification
system has undergone changes over Fig-3 Bacteria
the years? Three major groups of organisms come
If you were asked to classify under this group. They are archaebacteria
organisms what would be your basis (ancient bacteria present till date, some
of classification? species found in hot springs come under
Now let us study some of the characters this), eubacteria (streptococcus,
that have been considered to classify rhizobium, e.coli etc) and cyanobacteria
organisms under the five kingdoms of which are also called blue green bacteria
classification. as they appear similar to blue green algae
Monera externally but internally are more like
bacteria(but they are not bacteria).
Observe the given slides carefully and
say Protista (protoctista)
How many cells are found in the Observe the given slides carefully and
organism? say
Do you find any nucleus in the How many cells are found in the
middle of the cell? organism?
Are there any other cell organelles Do you find any nucleus in the
found in the cell? middle of the cell?
By observing the above characteristics Are there any other cell organelles
we conclude that Monerans are found in the cell?
Free distribution by A.P. Government 59
 Are there any locomotory organs Characteristics of fungi
in them? A. Most are many-
Characteristics of protists celled(multicellular) and some are
one-celled organisms.
A. Most are one-celled (unicellular),
B. Eukaryotes with well defined
but some have many cells.
prominent head (you usually see
B. Cells have a membrane around the
them propping out from the ground
nucleus.
or on barks of trees during rainy
C. Some get nutrients and energy by season).
eating other organisms.
C. Get nutrients and energy by
D. Some get energy from the sun, and absorbing/ digesting the surface
nutrients from the water around they live on through root like
them. structures which are fine thread
E. These live either solitary or in a like parts of their body.
colony. D. Most of these reproduce by spores.
F. Some of the cell organelles are E. Examples are yeast, mushrooms,
present inside the cell. bread moulds, and lichens.
G. Most reproduce by splitting in two.
H. Examples are paramecium,
amoeba, algae, kelp etc.

Fig-4 Aemoeba, Euglena, Paramecium

Fungi
Observe the specimen and diagrams
Fig-5 Bread mould, Mashroom, Yeast
given below and answer the following
questions.
Plantae
What is the colour? Can they Several plants grow around you. Do
prepare their own food as green all of them produce seeds?
plants? Think if grass produces
Make a sketch of the main parts of the seeds(hint:compare with rice plants
body. and think).
Do you find root like structures? Name some plants that produce
Guess why? seeds.
60 Diversity in Living Organism
 Which part of the plant produces
seeds? Where is it located?(recall
structure of plant parts studied in
earlier classes)
Do all plants have a definite
structure to produce seeds?
Plants are diverse in nature. The basis
of classifying them is the way they acquire
their food, the type of reproductive
structures they have and the way they
reproduce. They are multicellular, Fig-6 Mass
eukaryotic with cell walls. They are usually These are not exactly flowers but
autotrophs and use mainly chlorophyll for structures that contain seed like structures
photosynthesis. called spores. Spores contain very little
The first level of classification among food while the seed stores a lot of it.
plants depends on whether the plant body Moreover where seeds are produced from
has well differentiated, distinct parts. ovule of flower, spores are produced within
The next level of classification is based structures called as sporangium in a
on whether the differentiated plant body has different manner.
special tissues (vascular tissues) for the If you get a fern to observe, try to see
transport of water and other substances the brownish or blackish dot like structures.
within it. Further classification looks at the These are the spore bearing bodies.
ability to bear seeds and whether the seeds
are enclosed within fruits.
Lets look at some plants like moss and
ferns more closely.
Activity-8
Fig-7 Sporangium
Observation of moss plants through
Plants like moss and fern which do not
hand lens.
produce flowers and have sporangium as
You can collect mosses from the reproductive
greenish velvety growth on bricks during structures are
the rainy season. Scrap a bit of this greenish called non-
growth over a slide and observe with a hand flowering
lens or under a dissection microscope. You plants or
may find structures like that shown in the cryptogams,
fig-5. those that Fig-8 Mango seed

Free distribution by A.P. Government 61

produce flowers are mango) and those without it are
phanerogams like pine, gymnosperms (e.g. pine).The following
cycas, neem, mango etc. pictures will help you see this.
Among flowering Write down the characteristic
plants those having seeds features of dicot and monocot
enclosed within fruits are plants that you have studied in
angiosperms (e.g. Fig-9 Pine earlier sections of this chapter.
Flow chart
Plant
Kingdom

Cryptogams
Phanerogams
( Non- flowering ( flowering &
and non -seed seed bearing )
bearing)

Brayophyta
Pteridophyta Gymnosperms Angiosperms
( have false
roots & (true roots & (naked seeds) (seeds in a
leaves) leaves) fruit)

Note: Try to add examples to the above flow

chart. you can refer annexures given in the last Monocot Dicot
page this chapter. (one seeded ( Two seeded
leaf) leaf )

Classification of Animals attached to some

solid support.
These are organisms which are
There are holes or
eukaryotic, multicellular and heterotrophic.
‘pores’, all over the
Their cells do not have cell-walls. Most
body. These lead to
animals are mobile. They are further
a canal system that
classified based on the extent and type of Fig-10 Sycon
helps in circulating
the body design differentiation found.
water throughout the body to bring in food
Major groups are:
and oxygen. These animals are covered with
Porifera a hard outside layer or skeleton. The body
design involves very minimal
The word Porifera means organisms
differentiation and division into tissues.
with holes. These are non-motile animals
They are commonly called sponges, and are
62 Diversity in Living Organism
mainly found in marine habitats. Some be made, which is why such animals are
examples are Euplectelea, Sycon, spongilla called triploblastic. This allows outside and
etc. inside body linings as well as some organs
to be made. There is thus some degree of
Coelenterata/Cnidarians
tissue formation. However, there is no true
These are internal body cavity or coelom, in which
aquatic forms welldeveloped organs can be
showing more accommodated. The body is flattened
body design dorsoventrally, meaning from top to
differentiation as bottom, that is why these animals are called
compared to flatworms. They are either freeliving or
poriferans. There is parasitic. Some examples of freeliving
a cavity in the body. animals like planarians, or parasitic
The body is made up animals like liverflukes and tapeworms.
of two layers of Fig-11 Hydra
cells: one forming Nematoda
the outer layers while the other forming the The nematode body is also bilaterally
inner layers. Some live in colonies ,like the symmetrical and triploblastic. However, the
corals that are tiny (nearly 3 to 56 mm) but body is cylindrical rather than flattened.
their colonies where we may find several There are tissues,
types of them are as huge as say an island but no real
(1800 sqkm ), while others like hydra, organs, although
jellyfish and sea anemones are common a sort of body
examples. cavity or a
pseudocoelom is
Platyhelminthes Fig-13 Round worm
present. These
The body are very familiar as parasitic worms causing
of animals in diseases, such as the worms causing
this group is elephantiasis (filarial worms) or the worms
far more in the intestines(roundworm or pinworms).
complexly
designed than Annelida
in the two Annelid animals are also bilaterally
Fig-12 Tape worm
other groups symmetrical and triploblastic, but in
we have considered so far. The body is addition they have a true body cavity. This
bilaterally symmetrical, meaning that the allows true organs to be protected in the
left and the right halves of the body have body structure.
the same design. There are three layers of
cells from which differentiated tissues can
Free distribution by A.P. Government 63
 There is, thus, extensive organ Mollusca
differentiation.This differentiation occurs
In the
in a segmental
animals of this
fashion, with the
group, there is
segments lined
bilateral
up one after the
symmetry. The
other from head Fig-16 Snail
coelomic cavity
to tail. These
Fig-14 Earthworm is reduced. There is little segmentation.
animals are
They have an open circulatory system and
found in a variety
kidney-like organs for excretion. There is
of habitats– fresh water,marine water as
a foot that is used for moving around.
well as land. Earthworms and leeches are
Examples are snails and mussels.
familiar examples (see Fig.16)
Echinodermata
Arthropoda
In Greek,
This is probably the largest group of
echinos means
animals. These animals are bilaterally
hedgehog, and
symmetrical and segmented. There is an
derma means
open circulatory system, and so the blood
skin. Thus,
does not flow in well defined blood vessels.
these are spiny Fig-17 Sea star
The coelomic cavity is blood-filled. They
s k i n n e d
have jointed legs (the word ‘arthropod’
organisms. These are exclusively free-
means ‘jointed legs’). Some familiar
living marine animals. They are
examples are prawns, butterflies,
triploblastic and have a coelomic cavity.
cockroaches, houseflies, spiders,
They also have a peculiar water-driven tube
scorpions and crabs (see Fig-17).
system that they use for moving around.
They have hard calcium carbonate
structures that they use as a skeleton.
Examples are starfish and sea urchins.
Protochordata
These animals are bilaterally
symmetrical, triploblastic and have a
coelom. In addition, they show a new
feature of body design, namely a
notochord, at least at some stages during
their lives. The notochord is a long rod-like
Fig-15 support structure (chord=string) that runs

64 Diversity in Living Organism

along the back of the animal separating the Do you know?
nervous tissue from the gut. It provides a
Fishes are cold blooded animals.
place for muscles to attach for ease of
They can change their body temperature
movement. Protochordates may not have a
according to their surroundings. Most
proper notochord present at all stages in
of the fishes are oviparous but some give
their lives or for the entire length of the
birth to young ones. We do not call them
animal.
fishes which give birth to young ones.
Protochordates are marine animals.
We call them aquatic mammals.
Examples are Balanoglossus, e.g.Dolphin and whales. Hippocampus
Herdmania and Amphioxus (Seahorse) is another fish like animal in
which males carry babies as our mothers
do. Sea horses are used in Chinese
medicine. Seahorse population are
thought to have been endangered in
recent year by overfishing and habitat
Fig-18 Herdmania and Amphioxus destruction.

Vertebrata
These animals have a true vertebral
column and internal skeleton, allowing a
completely different distribution of muscle
attachment points to be used for movement.
Vertebrates are bilaterally symmetrical,
Hippocampus
triploblastic, coelomic and segmented, with
complex differentiation of body tissues and
organs. All chordates possess the following
features:
(i) have a notochord
(ii) have a dorsal nerve cord
(iii) are triploblastic
(iv) have paired gill pouches
(v) are coelomate.
Vertebrates are grouped into five
classes.
1. Pisces 2. Amphibians
3. Reptiles 4. Birds / Aves
5. Mammals

Free distribution by A.P. Government 65

 Vertebrates

66
Animals with Notochord (Notochord replaced by vertebral column in adults)
5 4 3 2 1

Mammals Birds Reptiles Amphibia Fish

Suckle young (feed babies with milk, skin covered by hair/fur (Aves) have dry skin young live (Pisces)
feathers, and scales, in water, but have fins
breathe air give birth to fully formed young once)
tow wings, lay eggs, adults live on
and tails,
Land Mammals Mammalia Marines Flying land, smooth
claws, lay breath air, breath
Outer ears four limbs (arms / legs) Mammals Mammals slimy skin,
eggs. Cold lay eggs. underwater
Animals use blooded
Warm First using gills,
Marsupials Primates Rodents which grow echolocation,
blooded animals, vertebrates, Cold
Care for Well Gnawing and live in nocturnal, animals, most of can live both blooded
and feed developed animal, the water, roots in in water and
four them have a animals
their hands / feet large some only trees or land,
chambered three and hearts
young in with fingers / incisor have sparse caves, under Poikilothermic,
teeth hearts. chambered have only
their toes, can judge covering of roots. hibernate
(two heart, but two
sacks. distance, very hair. during
parts) use crocodiles winter, chambers.
intelligent have four
like aestivate
social animals/ heart
chisels to during
form bonds chambers. summer,
gnaw on
with family hard Heart is
friends. foods. three
chambered.

Diversity in Living Organism

 Lab Activity What are the differences you
observed between tape worm and
Observe in your School Lab the round worm?
Slide of a hydra (whole mount)/ How does the head and tail look
picture of a hydra like in the specimen?
Is the body made of a single cell or These animals are round shaped and
a group of cells? depend on others for food (parasites). You
Did you find any hollow structure cannot find true body cavity in these
inside the body? animals (pseudo coelomates).
Did you find any other characters Both platy and nematy helminthes are
in it? together called Helminthes.
If you find any characters note down in Observe in your School Lab the
your note book. Also draw a diagram of the Specimen of Earthworm
given specimen.
Collect a big earth worm from your
The hollow structure found inside the surroundings without causing any harm to it.
body is called Coelom or body cavity.
Touch the skin of the earthworm
Observe in your school Lab and say how do you feel?
Specimen of a tape worm What is the colour ?
Carefully observe the given specimen Are there any differences you
and note, the external characters you found, observed in its body colour and
in your note book. among the body parts?
How does the body look like? How does it move?
Did you see a body cavity in it? Are there any ring like structures
How does the head and tail look seen in its body?
like? Draw a diagram of an earth worm
The organisms which have flat body are in your note book and show all the
called as flat worms, (platy-flat, characters you observed in it.
Hilmenthes- worms), hence they are The body of earthworm is made of
included in the name Platyhelminthes. several ring-like structures. (annulus:
Observe in your School Lab the rings, edios: form)
Specimen of a round worm Hence they are included under
(Ascaris) Anneldians. Body cavity is clearly visible
Observe the given specimen and note in it.
down the characters what you found / Observe in your School Lab the
observed in it. Specimen of a Cockroach.
Does the body look same as in the Collect a cockroach or any insect and
Platyhelminthes? observe it carefully.
Free distribution by A.P. Government 67
 How does the skin look like? characters carefully. If not possible, go to
Did you observe any hard layer on your school lab and observe the specimen
the skin? of star fish. Note down your observations
How many parts is the body divided in your note book.
into? What do you find on the skin of the
Observe the legs and says how does star fish?
it look like? Are there any arms and ray shaped
Name some more animals whose structure in it?
legs are jointed as seen in the Did you find a small hole in the
cockroach? middle of the star fish?
These are included in Arthropoda These are exclusively marine living and
(Arthro-jointed, pod-legs) as they have spine skinned animals. (echino: spines,
jointed legs. Most of the animals in this derm: skin)
group are the insects. Body is divided into All echinoderms are marine; they
three parts. Head, thorax and abdomen. cannot live in freshwater or on land.
Observe in your School Lab the They are bottom dwellers and benthic.
Specimen of Snail. Most are pentamemal, it means that
Observe a snail collected from a pond they have fivefold symmetry with rays of
and keep inside a glass beaker. arms in fives or multiples of five.
Observe against sunlight. Ask your teacher and write five
Note down its characters you observed examples of echinoderms and draw
in your note book. diagrams in your note book.
How does the outer body look like? Observe fish in your school lab.
Keep the snail unmoved for some Collect a fish from a fish monger and
time and when it starts moving observe its external characters. You might
observe its body. have seen a long spine inside the body of a
Is the body soft or hard? fish. This is the back bone of the fish. From
Did you find any antennae like fishonwards, all animals possess back
structure in it? bones and they are termed as Vertebrates
These animals whose body is soft and (animals that have ventebral columns).
enclosed in a hard shell is called Molluscs. Observe the skin of the fish. How does
Pearls are produced from a mollusc it look like?
called oyster. Write the body parts of the fish where
scales are not present?
Observe in your School Lab the
Open the mouth of the fish. What is
Specimen of starfish. seen in it?
Collect a star fish when you visit a Open side part of the fish where usually
nearby sea beach. And observe its external ears are located. What did you see there?
68 Diversity in Living Organism
 Cut open the fish and observe its heart. Nomenclature
How many chambers are seen in its heart?
Why do we need to give universally
What will happen if you keep a small accepted names to organisms?
fish out of water for some time? Think,
Think , discuss with your friends and
why?
write on this.
Fishes are the first organisms
Let us see what happens when we go
possessing back bones. Body is covered
about using local names.
with scales. Heart is two chambered. These
Do you know the common names
are aquatic animals and cannot survive on
of potato in different languages?
land. There are specialized organs called
Gills useful for its respiration. Suppose you used the name batata
where people knew only English,
(You need not complete all the
would you get your potatoes?
activities in a single Lab period. You must
be catious while observing the specimens We see that local names may create a
to find out its characters.) lot of confusion. This would hinder study
about an organism as talking about it in one

Common Telugu Hindi Tamil Marathi Odia

Name Name Name Name Name Name

Potato Bangala Aloo Urulakkiz Batata Bilati Aloo

Dumpa Hangu

place would not match with the other.

When printed, the scientific name
This problem was resolved by scientists
should be in italics.
by agreeing upon a scientific name for
When written by hand, the genus
organisms in the same manner that
name and the species name have to
chemical symbols and formulae for various
be underlined separately.
substances are used over the world. Naming
For example, the scientific name of a
of organisms with a distinctive scientific
Mango tree is Mangifera indica and a
name is called Nomenclature. It is unique
Human being is Homo sapiens.
and can be used to identify organisms
anywhere in the world. Activity-9
Certain norms are followed while Try to find out the scientific names of
writing scientific names. They are- at least 10 organisms that you see around
Genus should begin with a capital you.
letter. To classify just keep the following
Species should begin with a small points in mind
letter.

Free distribution by A.P. Government 69

Procedure organism as done by other
Observe, make a labeled sketch of scientists
the organism (use dissecting Try to findout answers for these
microscope as necessary) questions
Write a brief description of the 1. Is the organism prokaryotic or
organism, focusing on the eukaryotic?
characteristics that distinguish it as 2. Is the organism unicellular,
a member of its group. multicellular, or colonial?
Select a criteria for classification 3. How does the organism reproduce?
for example “body structure”. 4. What are the sources of energy and
Research the classification of the carbon for the organism?

Key words
Flora, fauna, diversity, variation, classification, evolution, kingdom, domain,
phylum, class, order, family, genus, species, nomenclature

What we have learnt?

Diversity is the hallmark of nature. Variation among the organisms leads to evolution
and growth of diversity.
Scientists started classification of organisms depending upon the similarities and
differences in them (sample under study).
Differences that are observed in very closely related populations are called variation.
In nature no two organisms are identical.
Classification helps us in exploring the diversity of life forms.
Classification is the systematic study of organisms present in nature.
Classification of life forms is closely related to their evolution.
The major characteristics considered for classifying all organisms into five major
kingdom are:
i. Whether they are made of prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells.
ii. Whether the cells live solitarily or in colonies.
iii.Whether the cells have a cell wall and whether they prepare their own food.
According to Whittaker, all living organisms are divided into five kingdoms, namely:
1. Monera 2. Protista
3. Fungi 4. Plantae 5. Animalia

70 Diversity in Living Organism

 Plantae and animalia are further divided into subdivisions on the basis of increasing
complexity of body design of organisms.
Recently Cavalier-Smith classified the organisms into six kingdoms as
1. Bacteria, 2. Protozoa 3. Chromista 4. Plantae 5.Fungi
6. Animalia.
Naming of organisms with a distinctive scientific name is called Nomenclature.
Nomenclature provides a uniform way of identification of the vast diversity of life
around us.
Carolus Linnaeus introduced Binomial nomenclature by which an organism is named
by two words- a generic name and a specific name.

Improve your learning

1. Variations in organisms lead to diversity in living organisms? State reasons (AS1)

2. What was the basis of early classifications? (AS1)
3. What are the advantages of classifying organisms? (AS1)
4. What is the need of classification? What questions you will ask for this? (AS 2)
5. How do monocots differ from dicots? (AS1)
6. One day Kavitha soaked seeds of green grams, wheat, maize, peas and tamarind.
After they became tender, she tried to split the seed. Name which would split, which
would not and identify them according to the characters. (AS 4)
Sl. Name of the seed Split into half (y)/ Monocot Dicot
NO. does not Split (N) (M) (D)
1
2
3
4

7. Make a flow chart of invertebrates in the kingdom Animalia, based upon their
characteristic features. (AS 5)
8. Write some common characters of Pisces, Reptilia and Aves. (AS 1)
9. Name the kingdom to which these organisms belong according to Whittaker.(AS1)

Free distribution by A.P. Government 71

10.Explain how animals in vertebrata are classified into further subgroups.(AS1)
11.Platypus or Echidna is a group that forms a link between reptiles and mammals.
Think and write about some characteristic features that these would have. (AS 4)
12.Sujata says Bat is not a bird but a mammal. How can you support Sujata’s statement?
13.Which phylum do I belong to (AS1)
a) My body is made of pores. I live in water. I do not have back bone also ………….
b) I am an insect. I have jointed legs . ……………………….
c) I am a marine living animal with spiny skin. My body is radially symmetrical
………………………
14.How can you appreciate the effort of scientists in classifying a wide range of
organisms? (AS 6)

ANNEXURE-1

Maize plant Rice plant Grass plant

Bean Plant Green gram plant ground nut plant

72 Diversity in Living Organism

 ANNEXURE-2
Plantae
!

!
Do not have have differentiated plant body
differentiated plant
body
!

!
!

Without specialised With vascular tissue

Thallophyta vascular tissue
!

Bryophyta
!

!
Do not produce produce seeds
seeds ( Cryptogams) ( Phanerogams )
!

Pteridophyta
!

Bear naked seeds Bear seed inside fruits

!
!

Gymnosperms Angiosperms
!

Have seeds
Have seeds with
two cotyledons with one cotyledons
Dicots Monocots

Free distribution by A.P. Government 73

 ANNEXURE-3
Animalia
!

Cellular level of Tissue level of

organisation organisation
!

!
Porifera
!

!
No body cavity between Pseudocoelom Coelomate
epidermis and gastrodermis

!
Nematoda
!

Coelenterata, platyheleminthes
!

!
Mesodermal cells from a Coelom fromed from pouches
single cell during growth of pinched off from the endoderm
the embryo
!

!
!

No Notochord Notochord
Annelida, Mollusca,
present
!

Arthrolpoda
Echinodermata Chordata
!

Notochord present in at least larval forms, Notochord replaced by

but vety rundimentary
vertebral column in adults
!

Protochordata Vertebrata
!

Exoskeleton of Gills in larva, Exoskeleton of Exoskeleton of Exoskeleton of

scalesm, lungs in most scales, laying feathers, lay eggs hair external ears,
endoskeleton of mostlygiving
bone/cartilage, adults, slimy eggs outside outside water, birth to live
breathing skin water flight possible young
through gills
!

!
!

Pisces Amphibia Reptilia Aves Mammalila

74 Diversity in Living Organism