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Each level in the hierarchy can be described by its lower levels. For example, the organism may be described at any of its component levels, including the atomic, molecular, cellular, histological (tissue), organ and organ system levels. Furthermore, at every level of the hierarchy, new functions necessary for the control of life appear.
The etymology of the word "morphology" is from the Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ), meaning "form", and λόγος (lógos), meaning "word, study, research". [2] [3]While the concept of form in biology, opposed to function, dates back to Aristotle (see Aristotle's biology), the field of morphology was developed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1790) and independently by the German anatomist ...
A taxon is usually assigned a rank when it is given its formal name. The basic ranks are species and genus. When an organism is given a species name it is assigned to a genus, and the genus name is part of the species name. The species name is also called a binomial, that is, a two-term name.
Differing levels of biological organisation give rise to potentially different understandings of the nature of organisms. A unicellular organism is a microorganism such as a protist , bacterium , or archaean , composed of a single cell , which may contain functional structures called organelles . [ 22 ]
The history of life on Earth traces how organisms have evolved from the earliest emergence of life to present day. Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago and all life on Earth, both living and extinct, descended from a last universal common ancestor that lived about 3.5 billion years ago .
Halophiles (organisms that thrive in highly salty environments) and hyperthermophiles (organisms that thrive in extremely hot environments) are examples of Archaea. [1] Archaea are relatively small. They range from 0.1 μm to 15 μm diameter and up to 200 μm long, about the size of bacteria and the mitochondria found in eukaryotic cells.
Systematic biology (hereafter called simply systematics) is the field that (a) provides scientific names for organisms, (b) describes them, (c) preserves collections of them, (d) provides classifications for the organisms, keys for their identification, and data on their distributions, (e) investigates their evolutionary histories, and (f ...
Below the level of living systems, he defines space and time, matter and energy, information and entropy, levels of organization, and physical and conceptual factors, and above living systems ecological, planetary and solar systems, galaxies, etc. [3] [4] [5] Miller's central thesis is that the multiple levels of living systems (cells, organs ...