Biology · The Living World · NEET
NCERT says: taxonomic studies consider a group of individual organisms with fundamental similarities as a species. So a species is not one animal or one plant. It is all the individuals that share the same basic body characters. Example: all mango trees of Mangifera indica together form one species.
Species is the LOWEST (basic) taxonomic category. NCERT clearly states that all organisms, including those in plant and animal kingdoms, have species as the lowest category. Kingdom is the highest. For NEET, remember the order from low to high: Species, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum/Division, Kingdom.
You use distinct morphological differences. Morphology means the form and structure of the body (shape, size, parts). NCERT says one should be able to distinguish one species from another closely related species based on distinct morphological differences. So the key word for species-level separation is MORPHOLOGY.
The second word, indica, is the species part (called the specific epithet). Mangifera is the genus. But note: the species as a category is defined by the whole organism sharing features, and the specific epithet is just the naming label. In Solanum tuberosum, tuberosum is the specific epithet; in Homo sapiens, sapiens is the specific epithet.
A species is a group of similar individuals. A genus is a group of related species that share more characters with each other than with species of other genera. So genus is one step ABOVE species. Example: Panthera (genus) includes the species leo (lion), pardus (leopard) and tigris (tiger). Each of leo, pardus, tigris is a separate species inside the same genus.
Yes. The taxonomic species is based on shared morphological features, not only breeding. NCERT notes that even a group of individuals produced by asexual reproduction can form a population/species. This is why the taxonomic definition uses similarities, while the separate biological species concept (Ernst Mayr) adds interbreeding.
Genus represents __________.
Study the four statements (A-D) and select the two correct ones: A. Definition of biological species was given by Ernst Mayr. B. Photoperiod does not affect reproduction in plants. C. Binomial nomenclature system was given by R.H. Whittaker. D. In unicellular organisms, reproduction is synonymous with growth.
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
A species is a GROUP of individual organisms that share fundamental similarities, not a single organism. All the individuals of Mangifera indica together are the species.
Distinct morphological (body form and structure) differences. This is the key word NEET expects for species-level distinction.
Species is lower. Genus is one rank above species and contains one or more related species.
Mangifera indica (mango), Solanum tuberosum (potato) and Homo sapiens (human). In each, the second word is the specific epithet.
Species is the base of the whole taxonomic hierarchy. Almost every hierarchy, naming, and matching question in The Living World starts from correctly placing species as the lowest category, so getting this right protects easy marks.
