Amazing Facts about Living Creatures

Table of Contents

• Amazing Facts About Living Creatures
• Characteristics of Living Things
• Conclusion
• FAQs

If we look around us, we can find a wide variety of living organisms, including plants in gardens, insects, birds, domestic animals, and trees along roadsides. Furthermore, countless microscopic organisms remain invisible to the human eye.

Scientists have identified and described approximately 1.7 to 1.8 million species to date, and this number continues to increase as new species are discovered. All these living creatures need food (nutrition) for their growth, development, repair, and survival.

Biology is the branch of science that studies life forms and living processes. The living world comprises an amazing diversity of living organisms, ranging from microscopic forms of life to giant trees and animals. 

Biology is the science of life forms and living processes. It deals with the studies of living organisms, including their structure, growth, functions, life process including:

• Evolution
• Respiration
• Reproduction
• Mode of nutrition and
• How they interact with their environment.

Biology is also a foundation for other biology-based professions such as medicine, nursing and allied health, pharmacy and pharmacology, dentistry, and veterinary medicine.

Other fields within biology focus on specific types of organisms, such as bacteria and other microbes (microbiology), viruses (virology), plants (botany), animals (zoology), wildlife biology and marine biology. And often, biologists focus on both a particular scale and a particular organism, such as plant cell biology.

Amazing Facts About Living Creatures

There are millions to trillions of living organisms on this planet. These living organisms vary greatly in size, colour, texture, lifespan and more. 

All these living beings need food to perform several basic activities to survive.  Find a new passion for all living organisms, from animal behaviour to plant adaptations.

Let's learn some incredible facts about living creatures and about the most amazing species.

1. According to the theory of evolution and the fossil record, bacteria are indeed considered the oldest forms of life on Earth.

2. Plants also respond to stimuli.

For example, touch-me-not (mimosa, chhui-mui, lajjalu) plants fold their leaves when we touch them

3. The largest single flower recorded is the Rafflesia, which can grow up to 150 cm in diameter. This is a genus of parasitic flowering plants, which have no stems or leaves.

4. Plants also respire by exchanging gases through stomata and lenticels. They respire through tiny pores called stomata on the surface of leaves. These pores help plants take in and release air.

5. Some seeds of flowering plants, like Petunias, require light to germinate. On the other hand, Calendula and Zinnia require darkness to germinate.

6.  Studies suggest that the number of trees on Earth may exceed the number of stars in the Milky Way.

7. According to scientists and their research since the 1960s, they have found recurring evidence that birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs, prehistoric reptiles.

8. Forests impact the balance of water and heat at Earth’s surface, essentially controlling the weather and producing rain.

9. Bamboo is considered one of the world's fastest-growing plants. Some species of bamboo can grow 35 inches in a single day, and some species reach full maturity in just 90 days.

10. Bees have two different dance moves that allow them to show other bees where flowers are located.

11. The Cambrian explosion is the name of the event marking the rapid diversification of many new groups of multicellular organisms from a single common ancestor.

12. The Mesozoic era is called the “age of reptiles”. It began 252 mya at the end of the Paleozoic era and continued until 66 mya (million years ago).

13. Dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic era, between about 245 and 66 million years ago. Sharks originated in the Silurian period, over 450 million years ago.

14. Believe it or not, trees can flood their leaves with chemicals called phenolics, helping to deter any pests that may cause harm to the tree. They also have protective structures and processes that help shield them from disease, similar to our immune system.

15. All organisms, such as plants, animals, microorganisms and human beings, as well as the physical surroundings, interact with each other and maintain a balance in nature. 

Characteristics of Living Things

All living creatures existing on this planet Earth have special characteristics or features in order to survive in their habitat. 

Key characteristics of living things include:

All Living Things Show Movement

Living organisms move by themselves. 

• Animals and birds can move from one place to another in search of food, water, and shelter
• Plants cannot move freely, but they show movement in response to stimuli. 

For example, the sundew plant closes its sticky leaves to trap insects, and the sunflower plant bends towards sunlight.

All Living Things Need Food

Every living being, including animals, birds, humans and plants, needs food for growth and development.

• Animals and birds depend on plants or other animals for food
• All autotrophs (green plants) synthesise their food through the biological process called photosynthesis.

All Living Things Respire

Respiration is the process by which living organisms release energy from the food they consume. Breathing is a part of the broader process known as respiration. In the process of breathing:

• Humans and animals inhale air (oxygen) and exhale air (carbon dioxide)
• In the process of cellular respiration, energy is released, which is necessary for life processes.

All Living Things Grow 

Growth refers to a permanent increase in size and body mass. All living things grow.

• A baby grows into an adult
• A puppy grows into a dog
• In plants, a seed germinates into a seedling, which then grows into a plant and into a tree 

All Living Things are Sensitive

All living creatures respond to stimuli such as light, heat, sound, and touch. 

• Plants do not have sense organs. However, they also respond to stimuli. A few plants bend or move towards or follow the sunlight. 

For example, sunflower plants move toward the sun.

• Humans have five sense organs, which include:
  • Eyes for vision
  • Ears for hearing
  • Nose  for smelling
  • Tongue for tasting 
  • The skin senses touch and pain

Animals also respond to stimuli and are sensitive to pain

For example: Frogs withdraw their limbs when exposed to painful stimuli.

*Note: Plants respond to stimuli but do not feel pain like animals.

All Living Things Reproduce

Reproduction is the process by which living organisms produce new individuals of the same species.  This biological process may be sexual or asexual, depending on the organism.

There are some living organisms, such as mules, worker bees and worker ants, sterile humans and certain hybrid animals, that cannot reproduce individually.

All Living Things Excrete their Wastes

Removal of waste products from the body is called excretion. All living beings excrete.

• In humans and other animals, excretion occurs through processes such as sweating, urination, and the removal of carbon dioxide through respiration.

Conclusion

Our ecosystem consists of biotic components, which include living organisms, and abiotic components, which include physical factors such as temperature, rainfall, wind, soil, and minerals.

The ecosystem is rich in variety. Researchers have identified and described millions of plants and animals, yet many remain unknown. The wide range of organisms in terms of size, colour, habitat, and physiological and morphological features. The diversity in morphological features leads us to seek the defining characteristics of living organisms. 

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