The five kingdoms
Animals, plants, fungi, protoctists, prokaryotes β the five great groups.
Traditional classification puts all known life into FIVE KINGDOMS:
| Kingdom | Examples | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Animalia | mammals, fish, insects, worms | multicellular; eat other organisms; nervous systems |
| Plantae | trees, mosses, grasses, ferns | multicellular; photosynthesise; cell walls (cellulose) |
| Fungi | mushrooms, yeasts, mould | multicellular or single-celled; absorb food; cell walls (chitin); decomposers |
| Protoctista | amoeba, algae | single-celled (mostly); varied feeding |
| Prokaryotae | bacteria | single-celled; NO nucleus; varied |
Within ANIMALIA, the most familiar division is between vertebrates (with backbones) and invertebrates (without). Vertebrates split into FIVE classes:
| Class | Features | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Fish | gills, scales, fins, cold-blooded, lay eggs in water | shark, salmon, goldfish |
| Amphibians | live both in water and on land; moist skin; gills as larvae | frog, newt, salamander |
| Reptiles | dry scaly skin; cold-blooded; lay shelled eggs on land | snake, lizard, turtle |
| Birds | feathers, lay shelled eggs, warm-blooded, mostly fly | sparrow, eagle, penguin |
| Mammals | fur/hair; warm-blooded; produce milk; usually give birth to live young | dog, whale, human, bat |
Note: modern classification (using DNA) has changed some details (e.g. Prokaryotae split into Bacteria and Archaea β three domains rather than five kingdoms). But the five-kingdom system is still the MYP-level standard.
- Five kingdoms: Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protoctista, Prokaryotae.
- Vertebrates: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals.
- Modern DNA-based classification refines this further.