living things
All breathing creatures
Living things are organisms—entities that are alive.
The phrase functions as a plain-English alternative to scientific terms like organisms or life forms: All living things need water.
It encompasses animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, and anything else that grows, reproduces, and responds to its environment.
The phrase often appears in educational contexts or when emphasizing the shared qualities of life across species.
Finest taxonomic rank
- creaturesAnimate beings, especially animals
- faunaAnimal life collectively
- floraPlants of a region
- microbesMicroscopic living organisms
bacteria · fungi · vertebrates · invertebrates · mammals · reptiles · amphibians · birds
At risk of extinction
- conservationPreventing waste or loss
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- genetic variationInherited molecular differences
- endemicNative to one area
invasive · keystone species · speciation · phylogeny · taxonomy · preservation · threatened · native
Basic biological units
- metabolismCellular nutrient conversion
- reproductionCopying or procreation
- geneticsScience of hereditary transmission
- heredityGenetic trait transmission
anatomy · physiology · homeostasis · respiration · cellular · organelles · mitosis · DNA
Organism's natural environment
- ecosystemInterconnected organisms and surroundings
- biomeMajor ecological community
- nicheRecessed wall space
- populationAll inhabitants combined
community · food chain · decomposer · producer · consumer · symbiosis · mutualism · parasitism
Progress toward maturity
- maturationProcess of becoming complete
- germinationSeed's initial growth phase
- sproutingSeeds beginning growth
- floweringProducing reproductive structures
ripening · metamorphosis · molting · budding · blooming · proliferation · differentiation · elongation
Tree-dense ecosystem
- jungleDense tropical forest
- savannaTropical grassland, sparse trees
- tundraFrigid treeless biome
- desertTo leave behind completely
rainforest · wetlands · grassland · ocean · coral reef · freshwater · marine · terrestrial
species
Finest taxonomic rank
microbes · bacteria · fungi · vertebrates · invertebrates · mammals · reptiles · amphibians · birds · fish
endangered
At risk of extinction
- conservationPreventing waste or loss
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- genetic variationInherited molecular differences
endemic · invasive · keystone species · speciation · phylogeny · taxonomy · preservation · threatened · native · wildlife protection
cells
Basic biological units
- metabolismCellular nutrient conversion
- reproductionCopying or procreation
- geneticsScience of hereditary transmission
heredity · anatomy · physiology · homeostasis · respiration · cellular · organelles · mitosis · DNA · chromosomes
habitat
Organism's natural environment
- ecosystemInterconnected organisms and surroundings
- biomeMajor ecological community
- nicheRecessed wall space
population · community · food chain · decomposer · producer · consumer · symbiosis · mutualism · parasitism · predation
development
Progress toward maturity
- maturationProcess of becoming complete
- germinationSeed's initial growth phase
- sproutingSeeds beginning growth
flowering · ripening · metamorphosis · molting · budding · blooming · proliferation · differentiation · elongation · regeneration
forest
Tree-dense ecosystem
desert · rainforest · wetlands · grassland · ocean · coral reef · freshwater · marine · terrestrial · aquatic
living thingsrocks
Solid mineral pieces
minerals · corpses · deceased · fossils · extinct species
living thingsmachines
Devices that perform tasks
robots · technology · electronics · computers · automatons
living thingsextinct species
Organism with no survivors
geological formations · mountains · stone monuments · ancient ruins
thing, lively, living, lives, livelihood, outlive, livable, outlived, nonliving