classification

Kingdom

kingdom in Science Expand. kingdom. (kĭng'dəm) The highest classification into which living organisms are grouped in Linnean taxonomy, ranking above a phylum. One widely accepted system of classification divides life into five kingdoms: prokaryotes, protists, fungi, plants, and animals.

Plantae

n (botany) the taxonomic kingdom comprising all living or extinct plants. Synonyms: kingdom Plantae, plant kingdom Type of: kingdom. the highest taxonomic group into which organisms are grouped; one of five biological categories: Monera or Protoctista or Plantae or Fungi or Animalia.

Carolus Linnaeus

n Swedish botanist who proposed the modern system of biological nomenclature (1707-1778) Synonyms: Carl von Linne, Karl Linne, Linnaeus Example of: botanist, phytologist, plant scientist. a biologist specializing in the study of plants.

Animalia

n taxonomic kingdom comprising all living or extinct animals. Synonyms: animal kingdom, kingdom Animalia Type of: kingdom. the highest taxonomic group into which organisms are grouped; one of five biological categories: Monera or Protoctista or Plantae or Fungi or Animalia.

Taxonomy

the branch of science concerned with classification, especially of organisms; systematics.

Archaea

Archaea (domain Archaea), Dead Sea: salt depositsZ. Radovan, Jerusalemany of a group of single-celled prokaryotic organisms (that is, organisms whose cells lack a defined nucleus) that have distinct molecular characteristics separating them from bacteria

Bacteria

Bacteria are microscopic living organisms, usually one-celled, that can be found everywhere. They can be dangerous, such as when they cause infection, or beneficial, as in the process of fermentation (such as in wine) and that of decomposition.

Classification

Classification, or taxonomy, is a system of categorizing living things. There are seven divisions in the system: (1) Kingdom; (2) Phylum or Division; (3) Class; (4) Order; (5) Family; (6) Genus; (7) Species.

Class

In biological classification, class (Latin: classis) is: a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks in descending order of size are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, order, family, genus, and species, with class fitting between phylum and order.

Protozoa

In some systems of biological classification, the Protozoa are a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotic organisms. Historically, protozoa were defined as single-celled organisms with animal-like behaviors, such as motility and predation.

Domain

In taxonomy, Domain is the highest classification rank of living organisms. In Domain there are three categories: eukaryotes, bacteria, and archaea. These classifications are very broad, and each of the three categories is broken down into more specific physical characteristics

Family

Meaning "those claiming descent from a common ancestor, a house, a lineage" is early 15c. Hence, "any group of things classed as kindred based on common distinguishing characteristics" (1620s); as a scientific classification, between genus and order, from 1753.

Species

Organisms that reproduce sexually and belong to the same species interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Species names are usually written lower case and in italics, as rex in Tyrannosaurus rex. See Table at taxonomy.

Dichotomus Key

Science Dictionary: Dichotomous Key. Dichotomous Key: is constructed using contrasting characteristics to divide the organisms in the key into smaller and smaller groups; each time a choice is made, a number of organisms are eliminated.

Phylum

The hierarchy of biological classification's eight major taxonomic ranks. A kingdom contains one or more phyla. Intermediate minor rankings are not shown.

Eukarya

The organelles are enclosed in a three-part membrane (called a unit membrane) consisting of a lipid layer sandwiched between two protein layers. All organisms except for bacteria and archaea are eukaryotes. Compare prokaryote.

Genus

a group of related living things (as plants or animals) that ranks below the family in scientific classification and is made up of one or more species

order

a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized by the nomenclature codes. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family.

Fungi

any of a diverse group of eukaryotic single-celled or multinucleate organisms that live by decomposing and absorbing the organic material in which they grow, comprising the mushrooms, molds, mildews, smuts, rusts, and yeasts, and classified in the kingdom Fungi or, in some classification systems, in the division Fungi ...

Protista

any of a diverse taxonomic group and especially a kingdom of eukaryotic organisms that are unicellular and sometimes colonial or less often multicellular and that typically include the protozoans, most algae, and often some fungi

algea

any of numerous groups of chlorophyll-containing, mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms ranging from microscopic single-celled forms to multicellular forms 100 feet (30 meters) or more long, distinguished from plants by the absence of true roots, stems, and leaves and by a lack of nonreproductive cells in the reproductive structures: classified into the six phyla Euglenophyta, Crysophyta, Pyrrophyta, Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta, and Rhodophyta.

Prokarya

any organism having cells in each of which the genetic material is in a single DNA chain, not enclosed in a nucleus. Bacteria and archaeans are prokaryotes