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🔬 Biology  ·  Biological Classification  ·  NEET

Who proposed the five kingdom classification system?

Answer: R.H. Whittaker.

  • A Carl Linnaeus
  • B R.H. Whittaker
  • C Charles Darwin
  • D Robert Hooke

Correct answer: B. R.H. Whittaker

Explanation: R.H. Whittaker proposed the five kingdom classification in 1969, dividing living organisms into Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia.

Whittaker's Five KingdomsMoneraprokaryotesProtistaunicell. eukaryotesFungichitin wallPlantaecellulose wallAnimaliano wallNOT in any kingdom: Viruses (non-cellular), Viroids (RNA, no coat), Lichens (alga+fungus symbiosis)Classification criteria: cell structure, nutrition mode, body organisation, reproduction, phylogeny

Whittaker's five-kingdom system (1969) groups all cellular life by cell structure and nutrition; viruses, viroids, and lichens fall outside this system entirely since they aren't independently classifiable as one of the five.

Concept context

Whittaker's five kingdom system covering Monera, Protista, Fungi, plus viruses, viroids, and lichens. A foundational NEET chapter on how living organisms are grouped.

Read the full Biological Classification notes →