All organisms are split into five Kingdoms:
Animal Kingdom: organisms that usually move around and find their own food.
Plant Kingdom: organisms that make their own food and do not actively move around.
Fungi Kingdom: organisms that absorb food from living and non-living things.
Protist Kingdom: organisms that have single, complex cells.
Moneran Kingdom: organisms that have single, simple cells.
Animal Kingdom
The Animal Kingdom is split into several Phyla. Each Phylum group contains organisms that have things in common. Below is a list of some animal Phyla:
Chordate Phylum: All the animals which have a backbone. Includes: Fish, Reptiles, Birds, Amphibians, and Mammals.
Arthropod Phylum: All the "jointed legged" animals. All of these animals have an exoskeleton, meaning the skeleton is on the outside of the body. Include: Insects, Arachnids, and Crustaceans.
Mollusk Phylum: Soft-bodied animals that sometimes have a hard shell. Includes: Snails, Slugs, Octopus, Squid, Clams, Oysters, and Mussels.
Annelid Phylum: Segmented worms. Includes: Earthworms and Leeches.
Rotifer Phylum: Tiny, microscopic animals with a wheel-shaped mouth and tiny hairs.
Nematode Phylum: Very tiny worms with no segments in their bodies. Also called Roundworms.
Tardigrade Phylum: Tiny, slow-moving animals with four body segments and eight legs. Includes Water Bears.
Cnidarian Phylum: Soft-bodied, jelly-like animals with tentacles and venom glands. Includes: Hydra, Jellyfish, Anemones, and Coral.
Echinoderm Phylum: Often spiny animals, with several "arms" reaching out from the center of its body. Includes: Starfish and Sea Urchins. We do not have these in our area!
Platyhelminthes Phylum: Soft, flat-bodied worms. Includes: Planarians and Tapeworms.
To find out more about each Phylum, click the links below:
Plant Kingdom
Instead of Phyla, the Plant Kingdom is split into Divisions. Each Divsion group contains organisms that have things in common. Below is a list of some plant Divisions:
Magnoliophyta Division: All "flowering" plants. These plants have leaves, stems, and roots. After flowering, they form fruits with seeds. Includes most crops, trees, shrubs, grasses, garden plants, and weeds.
Coniferophyta Divsion: Plants that bear cones. Includes: Pine Trees and Cedars.
Pteridophyta Division: Plants that have roots and stems, but do not have flowers or seeds. Instead, they spread with spores. Includes Ferns.
Bryophyta Division: Plants with very small leaves and stems, with no roots and no flowers. Usually grow very low to the ground. Includes: Mosses.
Lycopodiophyta Division: Small plants with green, branched stems, scale-like leaves, and no flowers. Usually grow very low to the ground. Includes: Club Mosses, Quillworts, and Spikemosses.
To find out more about a Division (Phylum), click the links below:
Fungi Kingdom
Just like Plants, the Fungi Kingdom is split into Divisions instead of Phyla. Each Divsion group contains organisms that have things in common. Below is a list of some fungi Divisions:
Basidiomycota Division: Many different forms, most of which help decompose and break down wood, litter, and animal poop. Includes: Mushrooms, Puffballs, Rusts, and Jelly Fungus.
To find out more about a Division (Phylum), click the link below: (coming soon!)
The Protist Kingdom is split into several Phyla. Each Phylum group contains organisms that have things in common. Below is a list of some protist Phyla:
Protozoa Phylum: Tiny, microscopic organisms which reproduce by splitting in half to become two new organisms. Includes: Amoeba, Paramecium, and Sporozoa.
Euglenophyta Phylum: Tiny, microscopic organisms which have a flagella (tiny hair-like thing that helps them move through water). Some eat algae and keep it inside their bodies, using it to make food. Includes Euglena.
To find out more about a Phylum, click the links below: (coming soon!)
Moneran Kingdom
The Moneran Kingdom is split into several Phyla. Each Phylum group contains organisms that have things in common. Below is a list of some moneran Phyla:
Bacteria Phylum: These organisms are extremely important and can also be very dangerous. They live anywhere there is moisture, including inside animal's bodies. Some carry disease.
Cyanobacteria Phylum: These organisms are also known as Blue-green Algae. These algae are different from the Green Algae found in the Plant Kingdom.
To find out more about a Phylum, click the links below: (coming soon!)
Scientists have not yet figured out where to put viruses. We have a lot we need to learn about them. They do not currently belong in one of the five Kingdoms.