Recommended systematics, taxonomy and evolution books from Amazon
| Life is generally classified into six groups called Kingdoms. Another group, the viruses, are not considered by all biologists to be truly living and are currently outside this classification.
The classification of life is the study of Systematics. Like all things in science, it is not necessarily absolute and will change as we learn more about the thing we call "life" and its evolution. For a "tree of life", I recommend the Tree of Life project, from which I have gained great knowledge, and have used as a reference for some of this Classification.
Superkingdom Prokaryota - Kingdom Bacteria - the true bacteria
- these organisms are single-celled, prokaryotic and have muramic acid. They are generally studied under the heading of microbiology
- Subkingdom Archaea
- these organisms are single-celled, prokaryotic and lack muramic acid. They are generally studied under the heading of microbiology. They are often treated as a Phylum or given Kingdom status on their own.
Superkingdom Eukaryota - Kingdom Protista - the algae, slime molds, water molds, protozoa, sponges (the sponges are included in the Kingdom Animalia by some experts)
- these organisms are eukaryotic, generally single celled or poorly differentiated multicellular life forms. They are generally studied under the heading of botany, except the sponges which are generally included in zoology
- Kingdom Fungi - the true fungi
- these organisms are generally multicellular, absorb food in solution and are non-photosynthetic. They are generally studied under the heading of botany in the discipline of mycology
- Kingdom Plantae - the bryophytes and vascular plants
- these organisms are generally multicellular and produce food through photosynthesis. They are generally studied under the heading of botany
- Kingdom Animalia - the multicellular animals
- these organisms are generally multicellular and ingest food (eat). They are generally studied under the heading of zoology
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