Scientific Classification in Biology

Scientific classification in biology has seven main taxonomic levels: kingdom, phylum or division, class, order, family, genus, and species. For average practical purposes, there are currently six official kingdoms: animals, plants, fungi, protists, and two groups of bacteria. Each kingdom is subdivided into phyla or divisions - then each phyla or division into classes, then orders, and so on. The taxonomic name of a particular organism is Genus species - where genus is always capitalized, species is always lower-case, and both are italicized. The scientific classification of the organism is the entire list of taxonomic levels. Human beings, for example, are called Homo sapiens, and the entire scientific classification is Animalia Chordata Mammalia Primates Hominidae Homo sapiens. Learn more with Bright Hub's helpful articles and resources.