Counting Down the Classification System

What is Domain?

A group of organisms that are similar based on characteristics such as chemistry and cell structure. The three domains are the broadest classifications and include the most kinds of organisms

What is Kingdom?

Group organisms by developmental characteristics and whether they make their own food. The relationships between organisms in a kingdom can be extremely loose, so members may share only a few characteristics. According to scientists, five or six kingdoms exist.

What is Phylum?

The next major taxonomic group. Within the kingdoms, organisms are divided into 36 phyla by general characteristics. For example, in the animal kingdom, animals with backbones(vertebrates) are placed in a separate phylum from animals without backbones.

What is Class?

Organisms in a phylum are divided into classes. In the Animal Kingdom, for example, birds, mammals, and fish all go in their own classes. Among plants, all flowering plants comprise the angiosperm class, and all trees that bear cones, such as pines and spruces, comprise the Conifer class.

What is Order?

Scientific groupings create __________, which separate organisms based on the characteristics of the major groups in their class. For example, humans, chimps, gorillas, and gibbons are all part of the _________ Primate because they all share large brains and opposite thumbs, use tools, and have social groups. The order Rodentia includes gnawing mammals with continuously growing teeth, like squirrels, hamsters and rats.

What is Family?

Further divide organisms of the same order by similar characteristics. For example, humans are part of the Hominidae family, where gibbons split off into their own family: Hylobatidae

What is Genus?

Two or more species that share unique body structures or other characteristics are closely related enough to be placed in a single genus. A genus may include only a single species if no other organism has characteristics similar enough for it to be considered the same genus. Here’s where humans split from gorillas; we’re part of the genus Homo, while they are in the genus Gorilla.

What is Species?

The most specific level, so it contains the fewest types of organisms. Organisms of the same species have very similar characteristics. The human species is sapiens, while a gorilla’s species is gorilla( and yes, that means they’re classified as Gorilla gorilla, because species are conventionally written when the genus and the species together.