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A life form (also spelled life-form or lifeform) is an entity that is living, [1] [2] such as plants , animals , and fungi . It is estimated that more than 99% of all species that ever existed on Earth, amounting to over five billion species, [3] are extinct. [4] [5] Earth is the only celestial body known to harbor life forms. No form of ...
Plant life-form schemes constitute a way of classifying plants alternatively to the ordinary species-genus-family scientific classification. In colloquial speech , plants may be classified as trees , shrubs , herbs ( forbs and graminoids ), etc.
Life has been studied since ancient times, with theories such as Empedocles's materialism asserting that it was composed of four eternal elements, and Aristotle's hylomorphism asserting that living things have souls and embody both form and matter. Life originated at least 3.5 billion years ago, resulting in a universal common ancestor.
Cladistics is a method of classification of life forms according to the proportion of characteristics that they have in common (called synapomorphies). It is assumed that the higher the proportion of characteristics that two organisms share, the more recently they both came from a common ancestor.
Life forms: (1) Phanerophyte, (2; 3) Chamaephyte, (4) Hemicryptophyte, (5; 6) Geophyte, (7) Helophyte, (8; 9) Hydrophyte. Therophyte and epiphyte are not shown. The Raunkiær system is a system for categorizing plants using life-form categories, devised by Danish botanist Christen C. Raunkiær and later extended by various authors.
A whole set of terms including taxonomy, systematic biology, systematics, scientific classification, biological classification, and phylogenetics have at times had overlapping meanings – sometimes the same, sometimes slightly different, but always related and intersecting. [1] [11] The broadest meaning of "taxonomy" is used here.
The kingdom-level classification of life is still widely employed as a useful way of grouping organisms, notwithstanding some problems with this approach: Kingdoms such as Protozoa represent grades rather than clades , and so are rejected by phylogenetic classification systems.
Life is divided into domains, which are subdivided into further groups. Intermediate minor rankings are not shown. Intermediate minor rankings are not shown. In biological taxonomy , a domain ( / d ə ˈ m eɪ n / or / d oʊ ˈ m eɪ n / ) ( Latin : regio [ 1 ] ), also dominion , [ 2 ] superkingdom , realm , or empire , is the highest taxonomic ...