Biodiversity

Plato and Aristotle in a famous painting by Raphael called "School of Athens".

• Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and thinker who lived about 2400 years ago.
Aristotle came up with the following grouping system that was used for almost 2000 years after his
death!
• • He divided all organisms into either animals or plants.
• • Then he divided animals into those 'with blood' and those 'without blood'.
• • Lastly animals are divided into three groups based on their method of movement: walkers, flyers
or swimmers.
• In the 1700s Carl Linnaeus developed the classification system that classified organisms according
to their similarities, functions and relationships with other organisms.
• Today with the use of modern microscopes and genetics we can classify living organisms very
accurately. In this way we are able to classify living organisms according to their shared
characteristics.
Our classification system
• All living organisms can be
divided into five kingdoms:
1. Animals
2. Plants
3. Fungi
4. Protists
5. Bacteria
What are humans? Which kingdom do we belong to?
Each kingdom is divided into smaller groups or divisions called
phyla.
Organisms with similar traits (characteristics) will occupy a
similar phylum. In each phylum, smaller divisions called classes
are found and each class is further divided into orders,
families, genera and then species.

TheKids
Do three domains
Prefer are the
cheese Archaea,
over the Bacteria,
Fried Green and the Eukarya
Spinach?
TAKE NOTE :The kingdom Bacteria is often also referred to as Monera.
• Carolus Linneaus designed a special naming system called the binomial nomenclature to name
all organisms.
• All organisms are therefore given two (bemeans two) words in their name.
• • The first part of the name refers to the genus that the organism belongs to.
• This is always written with a capital letter.
• • The second part of the name refers to the species within the genus
• • If you are typing you will put both these names in italics but if you are doing
• a handwritten piece you underline it. This shows that you are identifying the
• organism by its scientific name.
• For example, the scientific name for the African elephant is Loxodonta africana.
• Humans belong to the genus Homo and to the species sapiens so we are Homo sapiens.
• Be careful to use these words correctly: one phylum, many phyla. Similarly, one genus,
• many genera.
• A mnemonic takes the first letters of a group of terms to make a funny rhyme.
• Fungi
• Most people will not eat bread covered in bread mould but will eat a plate of fried
mushrooms, truffles and morels. These are all examples of fungi, including yeast.
• [Link] – what is Biodiversity
Fungi play a very important role in our biosphere since they break down dead organic material and
return nutrients to the soil for plants to use. Some fungi cause diseases while others, such as
penicillin (an antibiotic) are very useful to us. Yeast is used in many of our products, such as making
bread rise and fermenting wine and beer

Protists and Bacteria

Organisms in these two kingdoms are microscopic which means you cannot see them with your
naked eye. However we can see them if we look at them under a microscope.
• Different Protists:

Diversity. of
animals
there are two main groups of animals, and scientifically speaking these would hopefully be
vertebrates and invertebrates, or alternatively those with feathers and those without; those with
mammary glands and those without, those with wings and those without, etc.
Classifying animals
The presence or absence of a backbone is used to classify animals as vertebrates or invertebrates.
The dolphin, dog and goose are vertebrates and the grasshopper and crab are invertebrates.
• Invertebrates do not have a backbone, but this does not necessarily mean that they have an exoskeleton.
Many invertebrates have a hydrostatic skeleton, like the jellyfish and earthworm.
Some invertebrates such as like the snail and have an exoskeleton (shell) and a hydrostatic skeleton.
Sponges actually have a type of endoskeleton as their 'skeletons' are made of calcareous spicules.
The mammary gland is a highly evolved and specialized organ present in pairs,
one on each side of the anterior chest wall. The organ's primary function is to
secrete milk. Though it is present in both sexes, it is well developed in females
and rudimentary in males.
The invertebrates are divided into five phyla. The invertebrate phyla are:
1. Sea sponges
2. Jellyfish
3. Roundworms
4. Molluscs – sounds like mo·luhsks
5. Arthropods - sounds like aa·thruh·podz

Vertebrates belong to the phylum Chordata. Vertebrates are subdivided into five classes.
• The five classes of vertebrates are:
a) Fish - scales / gills / fins / etc
b) Amphibians - soft moist skin / lungs and skin used for breathing / four limbs with webbed feet
c) Reptiles - scaly skin / lungs used for breathing / four limbs with toes
d) Birds - beak, feathers cover body / air sacs used for breathing / two scaly legs and two wings,
e) Mammals - fur or hairy skin / lungs / four limbs / mammary glands, live birth
• The five classes of vertebrates are:
• 1. Fish
• 2. Amphibians
• 3. Reptiles
• 4. Birds
• 5. Mammals
Fish:
• Fish come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours. There is huge diversity amongst fish.
• When classifying fish we look closely at the material that makes up the skeleton of the fish.
This leads us to divide fish into two main groups:
• Cartilaginous fish have skeletons made of cartilage.
• Bony fish that have skeletons made of bone.
• Sharks, skates and rays are part of a group of cartilaginous fish because their skeletons are made of
cartilage. These fish breathe using five to seven pairs of gills.
• The largest group of all vertebrates are bony fish. Bony fish have a hard, bony skeleton.
• Challenge question: Is a seahorse a fish? Search books and the internet to find out and explain
why we can or cannot consider it to be a fish.
• Yes a sea horse is in fact a fish. It breathes with gills, has a swim bladder to
control buoyancy and a spine, and even though they don't have a tail fin they
have four other fins that help them move. Unlike most fish, sea horses do not
Have scales, but skin.
• The male seahorse actually becomes pregnant! The female squirts her eggs into the
male's pouch and he then fertilizes them and incubates them until they are ready to hatch.
• Only about 2% of all the animals on Earth have a backbone.
• Almost 98% of all the animals that have been discovered on Earth are invertebrates!
Amphibians

the word amphibia comes from two Greek words, amphi meaning both and bios meaning life? So
an amphibian is an animal that has 'both lives’.
Amphibians are animals that include salamanders, newts, caecilians, frogs and toads. Let's find
out what is meant by amphibians having 'both lives’.
Salamanders can regenerate (regrow) their limbs and tail within a few weeks if they were lost
due to predator attacks.
A group of birds is called a flock, a group of cattle is called a herd, a group of lions is called a
pride, but a group of
• Reptiles
• Reptiles have survived on Earth for millions of years. The first reptiles on earth lived 310 to 320
million years ago and included the dinosaurs.
• Most reptiles live on land although some, like crocodiles, terrapins and turtles, and some snakes and
lizards spend large portions of their lives in water.
• Reptiles are ectothermic. They cannot regulate their body heat but depend on their environment for
heat.

Reptiles are covered in dry scales. Reptiles reproduce by laying their eggs on dry land. The eggs
are covered by a leathery or hard shell.
You can tell the difference between frog eggs and toad eggs because frogs lay their eggs in clumps
and toads lay their eggs in strings. Have you ever seen frog or toad eggs?
Turtles are only found in the sea, terrapins are found in freshwater, and tortoises do not swim
around, but walk on
land.
• Birds
• Emus
• Emu is Australia's national bird. It is the second-largest living bird by height. Emus are soft-feathered, brown, flightless
birds with long necks and legs, and can reach up to 1.9 metres (6.2 ft) in height.
• Mammals
• The official animal of Australia is the red Kangaroo

• 'Thermic' means to do with temperature and 'endo’ means inside, so mammals

are endothermic as they can regulate their body temperature from the inside.
• Some characteristics that Mammals might identify are: warm-blooded (endothermic),
four limbs, sexual reproduction, live young, hair on bodies.
• Mammals are vertebrates meaning they have a backbone. Almost all mammals are endothermic.
This means they are also able to maintain (keep) their body temperature at a constant level.
• Mammals give birth to live young which are fed milk. The milk is produced by the mother's
mammary glands (in the teats or breasts). Mammals also have hair on their bodies. This varies
greatly between mammals. Mammals also have teeth that look different in different parts of the
mouth. All mammals breathe using lungs. Many mammals therefore live on land. Those mammals
that do live in water, like whales and dolphins, have to come to the surface of the water to breathe.
• Invertebrates
• What should you look out for when you have to decide if an animal is an invertebrate?
• • All invertebrates lack a backbone. They either have a hard outer shell or a fluid-filled structure
that acts as a skeleton (for example jellyfish and slugs).
• • All invertebrates are ectothermic.
• Did you know that 97% of the animals on Earth are invertebrates? Due to the huge diversity in the
invertebrates, it can sometimes make classifying them a bit tricky. The invertebrates are divided
into several phyla. Some of the invertebrate phyla are:
• 1. Molluscs mo·luhsks (for example snails and octopuses)
• 2. Arthropods aa·thruh·podz (for example insects, spiders and crabs)
• 3. Echinoderms uh·kai·nuh·duhmz (for example sea urchins and starfish)
• 4. Cnidaria [Link](for example jellyfish)
• 5. Porifera [Link] (sponges)
• 6. Annelids a·nuh·luhdz (segmented worms)
• 7. Platyhelminthes [Link](flatworms)
• There are some other phyla too. As you can see, the invertebrates are a very large and diverse
group of animals. We are mostly going to focus on the two phyla Arthropods and Molluscs
• The word arthropod comes from two greek words arthron meaning 'joint' and podos meaning 'leg',
so together it means 'jointed legs'. Arthropods have an exoskeleton and they have jointed
(segmented) limbs.
• There are some other phyla too. As you can see, the invertebrates are a very large and diverse
group of animals. We are mostly going to focus on the two phyla Arthropods and Molluscs.
• The word arthropod comes from two greek words arthron meaning 'joint' and podos meaning 'leg',
so together it means 'jointed legs'. Arthropods have an exoskeleton and they have jointed
(segmented) limbs.
• Arthropods
• The invertebrates that fall into the phylum arthropoda, all have a hard outer covering called an
exoskeleton. The exoskeleton protects the animal and provides a place for its muscles to attach
and function.
• The mosquito is responsible for more human deaths each year than any other animal on
earth!
• Malaria is carried by mosquitoes and passed to humans when an infected female bites.
• Malaria is a parasitic infection transmitted by Anopheline mosquitoes. It causes an estimated 219 million cases
globally, and results in more than 400,000 deaths every year.
• The coconut crab (Birgus Latro) is the largest land-living arthropod on Earth and weighs up to
4 kg! It can crack whole coconuts with its pincers.
• Molluscs
• mollusc is Latin for "soft“ which refers to the soft bodies of molluscs.
• Molluscs are a very diverse phylum of invertebrates. They have a huge range in
body shapes and sizes. Molluscs are often given a general description which is
that they have internal or external shells and a single muscular 'foot'. However,
there are lots of molluscs which do not strictly fit this description, such as slugs.
• The group of molluscs include snails, squid, octopuses, periwinkles, abalone, mussels,
oysters and other soft-bodied animals.
• Diversity of plants
• We can easily compare plants based on their characteristics. For example, their leaf size and
shape, whether there are flowers or not and how the petals look, the length and depth of the roots
and the type of root system, and many others.
• One particularly useful way is grouping plants according to how they reproduce sexually. If we
group plants based on the way that they sexually reproduce we
• can quickly see two distinct groups:
• • Plants with seeds
• • Seedless plants

Plants that do not produce seeds include ferns, mosses and algae. These plants produce spores.
The spores often develop in structures found on the underside of the leaves or fronds. The spores
grow into new plants.
A small hand lens is useful to examine the underside of the fern leaves (if available).
The close up photo on the right shows a moss sporophyte. This contains the spores of the moss
plant.
Ferns have been around for about 400 million years. That is even older than dinosaurs, and they
are still living on
Earth today
• Plants can also reproduce asexually by making a clone or copy of themselves. In this way new plants can
grow from cuttings and tubers (like potatoes), from bulbs and rhizomes, or from shoots and side
branches.
• Lichen

• Lichen actually consist of two different organisms growing together! A fungus and a green alga grow
together in a symbiotic relationship. The fungus absorbs water from the environment and provides the
algae with an environment to
grow in. The green algae photosynthesizes, providing food for the itself and the fungus.
• Why can the fungus not make its own food? Is the fungus a plant? Can you come up with a definition for a
symbiotic relationship?
• A fungus is not a plant. Fungi are one of the five kingdoms of organisms. Fungi do not contain chlorophyll
and cannot photosynthesize. They therefore need to obtain their nutrients from elsewhere
• symbiotic relationship : A symbiotic relationship is one in which one or both organisms benefit. A parasite
is something which lives off another organism in some way and harms that organism. The relationship
benefits the parasite, but not the host. It is not mutually beneficial. On the other hand, the honey bird and
the badger.
• The honeyguide bird loves beeswax, but needs help breaking open bees' nests to get it. So it shows a honey badger the way to
the nest, who rips it open and together they share the rewards. Or so the story goes.
• Both (honey bird and the badger) benefit from their relationship. It is a mutually beneficial
symbiotic relationship.
Start by asking learners if the relationship between the fungus and the alga is beneficial to one or
both of them? Both the algae and fungus benefit from the relationship. Therefore it is a mutually
beneficial symbiotic relationship.
• The other group of plants produce seeds. These plants can either produce seeds in flowers or
they can produce seeds in cones. Most plants that you see around you, produce seeds. Plants
that produce seeds in flowers are called angiosperms and plants that produce seeds in cones
are called gymnosperms.
The words to fill in on the diagram are monocotyledon for one cotyledon and dicotyledon for two
cotyledons.
• Seed-bearing plants
• Gymnosperms
• Characteristics of Gymnosperms
• Following are the important characteristics of gymnosperms:
1. They do not produce flowers.
2. Seeds are not formed inside a fruit. They are naked.
3. They are found in colder regions where snowfall occurs.
4. They develop needle-like leaves.
5. They are perennial or woody, forming trees or bushes.
6. They are not differentiated into ovary, style and stigma.
7. Since stigma is absent, they are pollinated directly by the wind.
8. The male gametophytes produce two gametes, but only one of them is functional.
9. They form cones with reproductive structures.
[Link] seeds contain endosperm that stores food for the growth and development of the plant.
[Link] plants have vascular tissues which help in the transportation of nutrients and water.
[Link] does not have vessels and the phloem has no companion cells and sieve tubes.
• we have plants called cycads that are often referred to as 'living fossils'. Cycads grew in great numbers
during the Jurassic period. They have not been around for as long as ferns and algae, but they have been
on Earth for longer than all flowering plants. Flowering plants (angiosperms) evolved after gymnosperms.

• Can you see the large cones in the photo of the cycad above? They are in the centre of the plant. The
cones are made up of many individual seeds. Look at the following close up images of cones.

• The word gymnosperm means 'naked seed'. Gymnosperms are considered to have naked seeds as the
seeds are not covered in a fruit, like we will see in angiosperm plants.
• An indigenous plant is one which occurs naturally in a particular geographical.
• An alien species is one which is not indigenous a particular geographical area. It has been brought in by
humans from another part of the world. They are said to be invasive as they invade (take over) the areas
in which indigenous plants grow.
• Angiosperms
• Angiosperms, or flowering plants, have pollen grains and ovules developed in specialized structures called flowers. The seeds of angiosperms are
enclosed within the fruits.
• Angiosperms create the largest and most diverse group of flowering plants in the kingdom Plantae, with approximately 300,000 species.
Angiosperms account for roughly 82% of all currently known green plants.
• The diversity of forms found in angiosperms is wider than in any other plant phylum. The size range is quite remarkable, ranging from the smallest
flowering plant, the Wolffia which is less than 2 millimeters, to the tallest angiosperms which are Eucalyptus regnans (Australia's mountain ash tree),
at approximately 100 meters (330 feet). Angiosperms of nearly every single size and shape exist between these two extremes.
• The wide range of habitats in which angiosperms grow, as well as their nearly complete worldwide distribution, reflects the wide variation in
angiosperm form.
• Angiosperms are classified into two groups based on the type of cotyledon present, these are monocotyledons and dicotyledons, respectively. The
seeds of dicotyledonous plants as the name suggests have two cotyledons, while monocotyledonous plants have one cotyledon.
• We can group flowering plants into two major groups:
• • monocotyledons
• • dicotyledons
• All the angiosperm plants that we are studying have the following
• characteristics in common:
• • roots
• • stems
• • leaves
• • flowers
• • fruits
• • seeds
The important difference between Angiosperms
and Gymnosperms
 Monocotyledon vs Dicotyledon

Monocotyledon Dicotyledon
The monocotyledonous embryos have a The dicotyledonous embryos have a pair
single cotyledon of cotyledons

They have a fibrous root system They have a tap root system

Leaves in monocots have parallel Leaves in dicots have reticulate or net

venation venation

In monocot flowers, the count of parts of The count of parts in a dicot flower is a
the flower is a multiple of three or equal multiple of four or five or equal to four or
to three five

The roots and stems of monocotyledons The roots and stems of dicotyledons
do not possess a cambium and cannot possess a cambium and have the ability
increase in diameter to increase in diameter

A few examples of monocotyledons are A few examples of dicots are beans,

garlic, onions, wheat, corn and grass, etc. cauliflower, apples and pear, etc.

Hydrangea flowers can tell us about the soil acidity! An acidic soil
(pH below 7) will normally produce blue flowers, whereas an
alkaline soil (pH above 7) will produce more pink flowers.