The species taxonomy defines groupings of biological organisms based on their shared characteristics. These groupings, called taxa (or singular taxon), are arranged based on taxonomic rank in which the deeper down the tree you are, the more granular the grouping characteristics are. This tree structure, with branches further down the line getting more specific, creates an overall hierarchy for categorizing life.

Species Kingdoms

At the very top of the species taxonomy, there are there are kingdoms located at the top of the hierarchy. View a kingdom's profile to learn more about it. You can also begin to browse species within each kingdom by exploring the tree. Note that our taxonomic tree information is ourced from ITIS.