Living things are sorted into a system called taxonomy. This system helps scientists organize them into groups based on how similar they are. Here’s a simple breakdown of the main categories in this system:
Domain: This is the highest group. There are three main domains: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.
Kingdom: The next level down has five main kingdoms: Animalia (animals), Plantae (plants), Fungi (fungus), Protista (simple life forms), and Monera (bacteria).
Phylum: This groups living things based on their major body shapes or features.
Class: This divides phyla into smaller sections.
Order: This further organizes classes into even tinier groups.
Family: This includes related groups called genera and shows how they are connected through evolution.
Genus: A genus is a group of closely related species.
Species: This is the most specific level and refers to individual living things that can breed with each other.
Right now, scientists believe there are about 8.7 million species on Earth, but around 80% of them haven't been discovered yet.
Biodiversity, or the variety of life, is super important. It helps ecosystems stay strong and provides valuable services that are worth about $33 trillion every year!
Living things are sorted into a system called taxonomy. This system helps scientists organize them into groups based on how similar they are. Here’s a simple breakdown of the main categories in this system:
Domain: This is the highest group. There are three main domains: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.
Kingdom: The next level down has five main kingdoms: Animalia (animals), Plantae (plants), Fungi (fungus), Protista (simple life forms), and Monera (bacteria).
Phylum: This groups living things based on their major body shapes or features.
Class: This divides phyla into smaller sections.
Order: This further organizes classes into even tinier groups.
Family: This includes related groups called genera and shows how they are connected through evolution.
Genus: A genus is a group of closely related species.
Species: This is the most specific level and refers to individual living things that can breed with each other.
Right now, scientists believe there are about 8.7 million species on Earth, but around 80% of them haven't been discovered yet.
Biodiversity, or the variety of life, is super important. It helps ecosystems stay strong and provides valuable services that are worth about $33 trillion every year!