We explain what living beings are, their characteristics and what their life cycle is like. Also, vital functions and types of living beings.
What are living beings?
When we talk about living beings or living beings we are referring to the various forms that life assumes throughout its historyfrom the simplest and most microscopic beings to complex life forms including human beings themselves.
living beings They are tremendously diverse in complexity, size, intelligence and other characteristics differentiators, which allow them to adapt to diverse environments and compete with other living beings for access to the resources necessary to continue living and reproduce their species, transmitting those anatomical or behavioral characteristics to their offspring. This is what the adaptation and evolution of species consist of.
It is not very well known how life originated, and this is a matter of debate, given that the bodies of living beings They are composed of exactly the same elements as inanimate matteralthough arranged in entirely different ways. In fact, in the body of living beings it is possible to find various doses of metals and inorganic elements.
Even so, living beings are distinguished from inert matter in that they try by all means to maintain their balanced chemical and biological structure, that is, to stay alive, and at the same time perpetuate the species.
If they fail to maintain their internal balance, living beings die, and their bodies decompose to their constituent elements.
See also: Metabolism
Characteristics of living beings
Living beings share, within their immense variety, the following elementary characteristics:
- They maintain their homeostasis. This term means the internal balance of matter and energy, essential for the organism to operate in a coordinated and non-chaotic manner.
- They are deadly and they reproduce. All forms of life that exist die, eventually, since in the end disorder (entropy) is imposed on the system after enough time, or when accidents and sudden changes occur that do not allow it to adapt in time. Life's response to this inevitable reality is to reproduce: create new living beings that perpetuate the species and contain the genetic information of their parents.
- They consume energy. Life requires energy expenditure to operate, and said energy is obtained from the environment through various mechanisms, which introduce matter into the body and subject it to chemical reactions.
- They react to their environment. One of the characteristics of living beings is that they do not exist apart from their environment and they respond to its conditions, that is, they interact with it in different ways, and consequently they also modify it.
Life cycle
All living beings have a limited time of existence, during which they fulfill various stages of the so-called cycle lifewhich will be repeated in their descendants. These stages are:
- Birth. Living beings are generated in different ways by their parents and come into the world in different states of maturity, that is, of preparation for life.
- Feeding. Once born, living beings must feed themselves for the rest of their existence, since it is the only method of obtaining the energy necessary to continue existing and to undertake the changes of growth and maturation.
- Growth and maturation. Once a certain feeding point has been reached, living beings grow, that is, they enlarge their structures and gradually reach maturity, that is, the point necessary to reproduce.
- Reproduction. Whether sexually or asexually, living beings reproduce and give rise to new individuals of the species, whose life cycles will begin at that precise moment.
- Aging and death. After the necessary time has passed, living beings will age, which means that their vital functions will deteriorate over time, until they stop operating correctly and die.
Vital functions
Living beings fulfill three minimum vital functions throughout their life cycles, which are:
- Nutrition. Nutrition consists of obtaining matter and energy to stay alive, repair the organism and make it grow. According to this, there are two types of living beings: autotrophs (they make their own food) and heterotrophs (they feed on the environment).
- Relationship. Living beings relate to the environment and other living beings, being able to flee from dangers and feed themselves.
- Reproduction. Once a certain well-being is achieved, living beings proceed to reproduce and perpetuate the species.
Types of living beings
Living beings are classified based on a system of kingdoms, grouped by their common characteristics. These kingdoms are:
- Animals (Animals). These are living beings with voluntary movement, the vast majority of which are heterotrophic, and which can be mammals, reptiles, birds, fish or amphibians.
- Vegetable (Plantae). Non-mobile living beings, generally autotrophic, that feed through photosynthesis, taking advantage of sunlight and water.
- Fungus (Fungi). They can be considered an intermediate between plants and vegetables, since they are immobile and feed on decomposing organic matter, even parasitizing other living beings.
- Protist (Proctist). Monocellular living beings of a very varied nature, which are primitive forms of life. This includes algae and protozoa.
- Bacteria (bacteria). The smallest and simplest living beings of all, which inhabit the environment and many of which lead an infectious life, within the body of other living beings.
