What are living things organized into?

Answer 1

At their simplest, broadest level, living organisms are classified into domains according to whether their cells are nucleated or non-nucleated and according to the structure of their cells' membranes. The domains are Eukarya (nucleated organisms) and two prokaryotic domains differentiated by cell membrane detail (among other things): Archaea and Bacteria.

Domains are further divided into kingdoms. Eukarya, for example, is divided into the plant kingdom, animal kingdom, fungal kingdom and protist kingdom. The protists should actually be classified as many kingdoms due to their diversity. Plants, animals and fungi are differentiated on cell wall structure and cell structure. Plants have cellulose cell walls, fungi have chitinous cell walls and animals lack cell walls. Plants contain chloroplasts, which animals and fungi lack. Animals contain centrioles which plants and fungi mostly lack. Animals and plants are all multicellular whereas some fungi are unicellular (such as Saccharomyces).

Kingdoms are divided into phyla. There are 12 phyla of plants and just over 30 phyla of animals and a few fungal phyla. The singular of phyla is phylum by the way. Through their phyla, plants show increasing sporophyte dominance and decreasing gametophyte dominance. Primitive plants such as bryophytes are gametophyte dominant whereas all other plants are sporophyte dominant, but increasingly so thoughout the evolution of plants, from really dominant bryophyte gametophytes to the really diminutive and shrunken gametophytes of angiosperms. Some of the phyla of plants are: Hepatophyta, Bryophyta/Musci, Anthocerotophyta, Pteridophyta, Equisetophyta, Ginkgophyta, Pinophyta, Cycadophyta, Gnetophyta, Anthophyta.

Note that "kingdom" and "phylum" are major subdivisions (taxa): there are intermediates. In the animal kingdom, there is a distinction between Radiata and Bilateria which are "unranked" taxa, not kingdoms and not phyla but between the two (and not subkingdoms or superphyla either in case you wonder). Radiata contains radially symmetrical animals such as the phyla Cnidaria and Ctenophora (jellyfish + corals and comb jellies respectively). Bilateria contains the bilaterally symmetrical animals which may be further classified as coelomate, acoelomate or pseudocoelomate according to the advancedness of their body cavities. Some bilaterian phyla include Platyhelminthes, Mollusca, Annelida, Arthropoda, Nemertea, Nematoda, Chaetognatha, Sipuncula, Echinodermata, Chordata, Hemichordata and Xenoturbellida.

You see the pattern by now. Division after division in the taxonomic hierarchy: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. Linnaeus (the "father" of classification) no doubt grouped organisms solely on morphology. Now, we use molecular data and that can refute or confirm morphological hypotheses of classification. Linnaeus grouped on "likeness"/similarity, no doubt oblivious to evolutionary relationship or genetic relationship (Darwin published Origin about a century after Linnaeus did anything useful) and, in those days, species were declared immutable creations. No-one knew of Mendel, no-one knew of Darwin, no-one knew of the concept of monophyly. But, these days, classification must reflect evolutionary relations where groups are monophyletic (a monophyly comprises a common ancestor and all its descendents). Mammals are a monophyly. All platypuses, marsupials and placental mammals all share a common ancestor. Reptiles are techincally not a monophyly. The common ancestor of all reptiles is also the common ancestor of all birds. If one excludes "bird" when one talks of reptiles, trying to say that birds are not reptiles, then "Reptilia" is not a monophyly.

Classification is of course a war and a half. There are those who are disposed to "lumping" and those inclined to "splitting". For example, someone who says a Giant Panda is a "Bear" "lumps" this species in the Family Ursidae. Someone who declares a Giant Panda is too distinct to be an ursid "splits" the Giant Panda into a separate family, Ailuridae. Cats, including lynxes, used to almost all be in the genus Felis. Now, they have been split into many genera. In fact, caracals and lynxes (both lynxes by the common tongue) are split into two separate genera themselves. The same story about cats is similar to the story about albatrosses and sunbirds. Goodness, the battle does go on.

Answer 2

All living things are classified as shown below .Viruses are not included in living things . Similarly Prions , Viriods e.t.c. are not included in living things .

Biota (all living things) (viruses are NOT living)

- domain Bacteria

- domain Archaea

- domain Eukarya - for expansion see below

Eukarya

- Kingdom Animalia

- Kingdom Plantae

- Kingdom Protista

- Kingdom Fungi

Basically:

- Animal Kingdom -- this group is a very large group. It consists of both invertebrates and vertebrates. Including; echinodermata (sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers), arthropods (insects, arachnids, and crustaceans), nematodes (roundworms) molluscs (squid, snails, clams and other bivalves with mantles), annelida (segmented worms(earth worms, leeches, etc), nemartea (ribbon worms), platyhelminthes (flat worms) Rotifera (radial symmetrical), Acoleomorpha, Cnidaria (jelly fish, corals, sea anemones, hydras) and finally porifera (sponges, and other filter feeders). The vertebrates include Agnatha (jawless fishes such as lampreys), Condrichythyes (cartilagenous fish such as sharks), Osteichythes (ones like halibut), Amphibia (amphibians (toads for example), Repitilia (snakes, alligators for example), Aves (birds), and mammals (marsupials, rodents, felines, canines, etc)

- Plant Kingdom includes a fairly big group of plants as well. Some of the plants or groups of plants that are within this group are bryophytes (mosses and lichens), liverwort, gymnosperms (conifers, decidious and other trees), angiosperms (flowering plants), Pteridophyta (ferns). These are just a few of the examples in this category. It also includes all of the algae that have pigments such as chlorophyll.

- Protist Kingdom - includes other eukaryotic groups. May include brown and red algae, and animal like algae. Flagellates with long flagella, Amoeboids with transient pseudopodia, Paramecium Sporozoa non-mobile parasites; some can form spores e.g., Toxoplasma

- Fungi Kingdom - known for decomposers. The popular group within fungi are mushrooms and other abiotic proerties within the environment that will work on the nitrogenous cycle.

Answer 3

Living things are classified in a variety of ways, including by size. They are also classified into groups, kingdoms, phylum's, and families.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

Living things are really grouped by five.