| The botanical code calls the rank 'division' what the zoological code calls 'phylum.' Yes, they are equivalent - it depends what group of organisms are being described.
The "5 Kingdom" approach of Whittaker (1960s) predates the 3 Domain approach (Woese, 1980s) - Bacteria, Archeaa (Archaebacteria), and Eukarya. The 5 kingdoms were Monera (prokaryotes, now recognized as Bacteria and Archaea), and 4 groups of eukaryotes (cells each with a nucleus): plants, animals, fungi, and what is now known to be a grab-bag of many kingdoms, called protists. The number of kingdoms now recognized is in the dozens, with each of the domains containing several to many. It makes it daunting to remember them all, but the goal is go have a kingdom stand for a fundamental lineage, all members of which have a common ancestor, and share some evolved characteristics that make them differet from other kingdoms.
One last quibble with the quiz - the last rank is specific epithet. Each species is made of 2 names: the species and the specific epithet. Humans are species Homo sapiens, not just sapiens... |