#SHORT NOTES NEET PREPARATION (Chapter 1) -TAXONOMICAL AIDS
TAXONOMICAL AIDS
Taxonomic studies of plants, animals = useful in agriculture, forestry, industry and bio-resources and their diversity
- Used for classification and identification of organisms
Identification of organisms = require intensive laboratory and field studies
Specimen of plant and animal = prime source of taxonomic studies
Herbarium
Herbarium = store house of collected plant specimens (dried, pressed and preserved on sheets)
Sheets is arranged according to a universally accepted system of classification
Herbarium sheets = has label providing information about date and place of collection, English, local and botanical names, family, collector’s name, etc
Botanical Gardens
Botanical Gardens = specialized gardens (collection of living plants for reference)
Plant species grown for identification purposes and each plant is labeled indicating its botanical/scientific name and its family
Famous botanical gardens = Kew (England), Indian Botanical Garden, Howrah (India) and National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow (India)
Museum
Biological museums – generally set up in educational institutes (schools and colleges)
Museum = collections of preserved plant and animal specimens for study and reference
Specimen = preserved in the containers or jars in preservative solutions
Plant and animal specimens = can also be preserved as dry specimens
Insect = preserved in insect boxes after collecting, killing and pinning
Larger animals like birds and mammals = stuffed and preserved
Museum = have collections of skeletons of animals
Zoological Parks
Zoological parks = places where wild animals are kept in protected environments under human care (helps us to learn about their food habits and behavior)
Animals in a zoo = have conditions similar to their natural habitats
Children love visiting these parks = called Zoos
Key
Key = taxonomical aid used for identification of plants and animals (based on similarities and dissimilarities)
Keys are based on contrasting characters generally in a pair called couplet
The choice made between two opposite options. This results in acceptance of only one and rejection of the other
Each statement in the key is called a lead
Separate taxonomic keys = required for each taxonomic category such as family, genus and species for identification purposes.
Keys are generally analytical in nature
Flora, Manuals, Monographs and Catalogues
These are used to record descriptions
These are helpful in correct identification
Flora = contains actual account of habitat and distribution of plants of a given area.
Flora provide the index to the plant species found in a particular area
Manuals = useful in providing information for identification of names of species found in an area
Monograph = contain information on any one taxon
