Biology · The Living World · NEET
NCERT says: taxonomic studies consider a group of individual organisms with fundamental similarities as a species. In simple words, all the organisms in one species look basically the same in their key body features. The extra part of the definition matters for NEET: you should be able to tell one species apart from another closely related species using distinct morphological (body-shape) differences. So this is called the MORPHOLOGICAL or taxonomic species concept.
A species is the lowest (smallest) group — all its members share fundamental similarities and look alike. A genus is bigger: it is a group of closely related SPECIES. So many species together make one genus. Example: lion (Panthera leo), leopard (Panthera pardus) and tiger (Panthera tigris) are three different SPECIES, but all three sit inside ONE genus, Panthera. Remember: species is inside genus, never the other way round.
They are linked but not identical. In Homo sapiens, 'Homo' is the genus and 'sapiens' is the specific epithet — the second word that names the species. So the specific epithet is the WORD used to name the species. NEET sometimes writes 'species = sapiens' loosely, but strictly the specific epithet is the naming word, while the species is the whole group of similar organisms. In Panthera tigris, 'tigris' is the specific epithet.
Yes. Species is the lowest (basic) taxonomic category. All organisms, in both the plant and animal kingdoms, have species as their lowest category. The order from lowest to highest is: Species, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum (or Division), Kingdom. So species always comes first when you go from smallest to biggest group.
The taxonomic definition uses FUNDAMENTAL (basic) similarities, not tiny surface differences. Small differences like colour of a flower or size can still be within one species. You only separate them into different species when there are DISTINCT morphological differences. This is why the taxonomic species concept is based on body form (morphology), which is easy to see and use. A separate idea, the biological species concept by Ernst Mayr, uses breeding instead — that is the next topic.
Homo sapiens — humans; here 'sapiens' is the species inside genus Homo. Solanum nigrum and Solanum melongena (brinjal) are two different species inside the genus Solanum. Panthera tigris (tiger) is a species inside genus Panthera. Notice the pattern: the FIRST word is the genus, and the SECOND word tells you the species. NEET loves these exact examples, so memorise them.
Genus represents __________.
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 with fundamental similarities that can be told apart from closely related species by distinct morphological differences.
The taxonomic (morphological) definition is the one in NCERT Class 11 based on body-shape similarities. The BIOLOGICAL species concept, based on interbreeding, was given by Ernst Mayr — that is the next concept to study.
'indica' is the specific epithet naming the species, and 'Mangifera' is the genus. The first word is always the genus, the second names the species.
Species is the LOWEST (basic) taxonomic category. Kingdom is the highest. The lowest-to-highest order is Species, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum/Division, Kingdom.
