Classification of Organisms Classification of organisms is done by their different traits.

Same organisms can be classified in multiple ways by different traits. Classification simplifies the study of organisms. Plants / Plantae Flowering plants / Angiosperms Bear roots, stems and leaves Produce flowers, fruits and seeds Divided to Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons Monocotyledons Seed contains only one cotyledon Leaves show parallel venation Fibrous root system Flowers are trimerous e.g. Coconut, Bamboo, Orchid Dicotyledons Seed contains two cotyledons Branched stem Leaves show reticular venation Flowers are tetramerous or pentamerous e.g. Mango, Ehala, Jak Non-flowering Plants Gymnosperms non-flowering plants that propagate through seeds e.g. Cycas, Araucaria Non seed bearing plants non-flowering plants that propagate through spores e.g. Mosses, Liverworts, Ferns

Animals / Animalia Invertebrates: These are animals without backbones Coelenterates: Cylindrical, soft bodied, sessile, aquatic animals e.g. Hydra, Sea anemone Annelids: Segmented, moist skinned bodies with appendages Live in moist places e.g. Earthworm, Leech, Nereis Mollusks: Un-segmented, soft and moist bodies Sometimes with covered shell Live in land or water e.g. Snail, Slug, Cuttlefish Arthropods: animals with jointed appendages segmented body with chitin exoskeletons inhabit land and water e.g. Grasshopper, Butterfly, Waterskater, Centipede, Scorpion. Millipede. Prawn. Crab. Spider Vertebrates: These are animals with a backbone Pisces (fish): Streamlined bodies Gills, fins, bony skeleton Living entirely in water e.g. Shark. Bulathhapaya, Asoka pethiya Amphibians:

Bear four limbs Moist skin Live on both land and water e.g. Frog, Toad, Salamader Reptiles: Hard dry skinned body with scales Body sometimes covered by hard shell Limbs four in number if present otherwise absent Live in water and/or land e.g. Turtle, Lizard, Tortoise, Python Aves (birds): Endothermic Body covered with feathers Forelimbs modified into wings Capable of living on land and/or water e.g. Peacock, Bluecoot, Owl Mammalia (mammals): Endothermic Body covered with hair Bear external ears Young fed on mother's milk e.g. Bat, Deer, Whale Arboreal Aquatic Terrestrial Subterranean Marine Microorganisms Cannot be individually seen with the naked eye. Classified as Bacteria, Fungi, Algae. Protozoa and Virus Bacteria: Ability to live in a wide range of environmental conditions Cell shape can be spherical, rodlike or spiral

Presence of cell wall Absence of nuclear membrane Autotrophic or heterotrophic nutrition Reproduction through fission e.g. Coccus, Bacills, Spirallum Fungi: Heterotrophic due to absence of chlorophyll Hence saprophytic or parasitic Unicellular or fillamentous Cell wall made up of chitin No locomotory organelles like flagella or cilia e.g. Mushroom, Molds Algae: Live in aquatic environments Chlorophyll present hence autotrophic Unicellular or multicellular e.g. Ulva, Chladophora, Chlamydomonas, Closterium, Spirogura Protozoans: Found in aquatic environments Unicellular organisms Presence of locomotory organelles like flagella, cillia and pseudopodia Heterotrophic Absence of cell wall e.g. Paramesium, Euglena, Amoaeba Viruses: Either DNA or RNA is found within protein capsule Difficult to classify as living or non-living as no cellular organization Multiplication occurs only within a living cell