All living organisms are classified into different groups.

The 5 kingdoms are called:

1. Monera (also known as 'Prokaryota')
2. Protocista
3. Fungi
4. Plantae
5. Animalia

The way the kingdom is broken down is as follows:

A number of species make up a genus.

A number of genera make up a family.

A number of families make up an order.

A number of orders make up a class.

A number of classes make up a phylum.

A number of phyla make up a kingdom.

The species is the lowest level of classification within each Kingdom. All members of a species are capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring. They have a particular set of characteristics.

A genus is a group of similar or closely related species.

Some examples of classifications within the Animalia Kingdom:

Kingdom e.g.Animalia

Phylum e.g Chordata

Class e.g Mammalia

Order e.g. Primates

Family e.g. Homindae

Genus e.g Homo

Species e.g.Sapiens

Useful tip:Use the following sentence to prompt you for the first letter for each classification below Kingdom:

Please Cool Off, For Goodness Sake!

A body plan can be thought of as a cross-section through an animal, showing only the most fundamental arrangement of the tissue layers. It does not show any detail, such as the position of the internal organs.

Three main body plans:

Diploblastic acoelomate

Triploblastic acoelomate

Triploblastic coelomate

For each phylum it is important to know:

General features.

The classification of one member species.