Term | Definition |
Classification | the action or process of classifying something according to shared qualities or characteristics |
Organism | an individual animal, plant, or single-celled life form. |
Diversity | the state of being diverse; variety. |
Characteristics | a feature or quality belonging typically to a person, place, or thing and serving to identify it. |
Dichotomous key | a feature or quality belonging typically to a person, place, or thing and serving to identify it. |
Taxonomy | the branch of science concerned with classification, especially of organisms; systematics |
Domain | an area of territory owned or controlled by a ruler or government. |
Six kingdom system | an area of territory owned or controlled by a ruler or government. |
Microorganism | a microscopic organism, especially a bacterium, virus, or fungus. |
Single-celled | having only one cell |
Multi-celled | having more than one cell |
Prokaryotic | A prokaryote is a unicellular organism that lacks a membrane-bound nucleus, mitochondria, or any other membrane-bound organelle. The word prokaryote comes from the Greek πρό "before" and κάρυον "nut or kernel |
Eukaryotic | A eukaryote is any organism whose cells have a cell nucleus and other organelles enclosed within membranes. Eukaryotes belong to the domain Eukaryota or Eukarya, and can be unicellular or multicellular organisms. |
Autotroph | an organism that is able to form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide. |
Heterotroph | an organism deriving its nutritional requirements from complex organic substances. |
Decomposer | an organism, especially a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes organic material |
Carnivore | an animal that feeds on flesh. |
Herbivore | an animal that feeds on plants. |
Omnivore | an animal or person that eats food of both plant and animal origin |
Detritivore | an animal that feeds on dead organic material, especially plant detritus. |
Insectivore | an insectivorous animal or plant. |
Phylogeny | an insectivorous animal or plant. |
Cladogram | a branching diagram showing the cladistic relationship between a number of species. |