Kingdom (biology)

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

In biology, a kingdom is the second highest taxonomic rank, just below domain. Kingdoms are divided into smaller groups called phyla (singular phylum).

Traditionally, textbooks from Canada and the United States have used a system of six kingdoms (Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, Archaea/Archaebacteria, and Bacteria or Eubacteria), while textbooks in other parts of the world, such as Bangladesh, Brazil, Greece, India, Pakistan, Spain, and the United Kingdom have used five kingdoms (Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista and Monera).

Some recent classifications based on modern cladistics have explicitly abandoned the term kingdom, noting that some traditional kingdoms are not monophyletic, meaning that they do not consist of all the descendants of a common ancestor. The terms flora (for plants), fauna (for animals), and, in the 21st century, funga (for fungi) are also used for life present in a particular region or time.[1][2]

  1. ^ "IUCN SSC acceptance of Fauna Flora Funga" (PDF). Fungal Conservation Committee, IUCN SSC. 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2022-03-04. The IUCN Species Survival Commission calls for the due recognition of fungi as major components of biodiversity in legislation and policy. It fully endorses the Fauna Flora Funga Initiative and asks that the phrases animals and plants and fauna and flora be replaced with animals, fungi, and plants and fauna, flora, and funga.
  2. ^ "Re:wild and IUCN SSC become first global organizations to call for the recognition of fungi as one of three kingdoms of life critical to protecting and restoring Earth". International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 3 August 2021.