Palaeos Palaeos The Linnaean System
Systematics Kingdoms


Kingdom

Kingdom

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
The highest ranking of organisms in the standard Linnaean system.  The term is based on earlier medieval and alchemical ideas - e.g. "animal kingdom" "vegetable kingdom," "mineral kingdom".  The original Plant - Animal Kingdom divide was replaced by the Five Kingdom model of Whittaker and Margulis.  Modern research into micro-organisms however has shown that they are far more diverse than was previously thought, and the kingdom has been relegated to a relatively minor status vis a vis the Domain, the highest current taxonomic ranking.


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page by M. Alan Kazlev (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License)
page uploaded 20 May 2002
checked ATW031211, edited RFVS111202
(originally uploaded on Kheper site 13 December 1998)

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