Instructions
•Imagine you are explaining to a friend what the term species means. In your own words define the term species then provide three (3) examples of different species. Next determine three (3) ways that species within a genus are often related to one another. Furthermore, in your response briefly describe how the word “related” is being used when discussing species and genus.
Answer
Biology discussion
Biology is increasingly becoming one of the important subjects in most institutions in the country. Notably, it focuses on the study of life and living organisms. According to this natural science, species are one of the primary units of classification of living organisms. Species commonly define a group of living organisms with similar characteristics, and that can exchange genetic information and produce fertile offspring. To efficiently and successfully put organisms in different groups, biologists with the help of other scientists developed a classifying system that helps to put these organisms in a single group (Benner, Chen, & Yang, 2011). Therefore, for a group of organisms to be grouped as a species, they must have the ability to interbreed and produce fertile and healthy offsprings.
There exist different types of species in the world today, depending on the characteristics of a group of living organisms as well as their DNA. Types of species refer to the name of a genus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated. Some of the major species in biology include:
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Birds – birds belong to the larger group of endothermic vertebrates characterized by feathers, toothless, beaked jaw, and a high metabolic rate (Chesson, 2012).
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Insects – insects are by far the largest group of hexapod invertebrates. They represent more than 80% of all the species considering that there are more than 900,000 different kinds of insects in the world today.
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Plants – plants are often multicellular, and they form one of the two kingdoms covering all living organisms except animals (Chesson, 2012).
Some of the major characteristics of a genus that shows the relationship between different living organisms within the group includes the feeding habits of the organisms, their ability to produce fertile offsprings as well as having similar DNA composition. Notably, in this case, the term related is used to show similar characteristics of organisms within a particular genus (Benner, Chen, & Yang, 2011).
References
Benner, S. A., Chen, F., & Yang, Z. (2011). Synthetic Biology, Tinkering Biology, and Artificial Biology: A Perspective from Chemistry. Chemical Synthetic Biology, 69-106. doi:10.1002/9780470977873.ch3
Chesson, P. (2012). Species species Competition species competition and Predation species predation. Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, 10061-10085. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3_579
