Question

The species (man, housefly, mango, wheat, dog, cat, lion, tiger, potato, brinjal, makoi and leopard) given here belong to how many different families?
A. 4
B. 7
C. 5
D. 6

Answer 1

Hint: Species is the basic unit of classification. A biological species is a group of organisms which can reproduce with one another and produce offspring. A group of inter related species belong to the same genus.

Complete Answer:
- Family is a major taxonomic rank in the taxonomic classification. A group of genus comprises of family. The family name for animal ends with “idae” for example Felidae and that of plants end with “aceae”. For example Solanaceae.
- In the given question, both the species of plants and animals are given. Classifying them on the basis of their family is a follows-
- Felis domesticus (cat), Panthera leo(lion), Panthera tigris(tiger), Panthera pardus( leopard) are the carnivorous animals which belong to the family Felidae.
- Homo sapian(man) belongs to the family Hominidae.
- Musca domestica(housefly) belongs to the family Muscidae.
- Mangifera indica(mango) belongs to the family Anacardiaceae.
- Triticum aestivum (wheat) belongs to the family Poaceae.
- Solanum tuberosum(potato), Solanum melongena(brinjal), Solanum nigrum belong to the family Solanaceae.

The correct answer is (B).

Note: In a family, all genus shares common attributes like mode of reproduction, habit, habitat, and common phenotypic and genotypic similarities. The genus serves as the root of the taxonomic tree whereas the family serves as stem. According to NCBI, there are around 20000 different families present which comprises plants, animals, microorganisms.