| The Linnaean System | ||
| Systematics | Phylum |
| Systematics | Taxonomy |
| Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species |
Referred to as 'Division" in the case of Plants and Bacteria. In the standard Linnaean system (and taxonomic systems based on it), a Phylum is the taxonomic category between Kingdom and Class. A phylum is a major ranking of organisms, defined according to the most basic body-parts shared by that group. e.g. Chordata (animals with a notochord - vertebrates and others), Arthropoda (animals with a jointed exoskeleton) Mollusca animals with a shell-secreting mantle), Angiosperma (flowering plants), and so on. A number of traditional Phyla - e.g. Protozoa, possibly Arthropoda - are probably invalid (polyphyletic). |