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Today's
Five Kingdoms
Through the passage of time there came to appear five different kingdoms of living creatures on Earth. Kingdom is just a term for the broadest classification system of living things. Under each kingdom, is a lesser classification system that breaks down the levels of complexity. In total, there are seven levels, of which the last two are genus and species. Together, these provide the name for each living organism.
I. Kingdom Monera
Kingdom Monera is full of prokaryotes. When speaking of living cells, there are two kinds, a basic form and a complex one. Prokaryotes are the simplest, and also the oldest of the one-celled creatures. Their bodies are surrounded by tough cell walls, which allow them to survive in very harsh conditions. The inside of the cell contains very simple organelles, that are have no memebranic protection. Their DNA is a simple loop that floats freely. Reproduction consists of merely splitting in two.
II. Kingdom Protista
The protist kingdom is actuatlly a catch-all group. It contains any creatures that do not fit into the other four kingdoms. Mostly they are unicellluar and eukaryotic (the more complex type), but there are many exceptions. Common theory holds that they are merely an evolution of the prokaryotes with a large part of experimentation attached.
III. Kingdom Fungi
The fungus kingdom is encompases the range of living things that are multicellular, eukaryotic, and saporophiric, meaning they feed off of dead organic material. They grow in loose colonies usually, almost not visible, but the higher forms can grow to be quite complex.
IV. Kingdom Plantae
This kingdom is one of the most important ones for life on earth. For the animals, plants provide food and replenish oxygen. Without plants, human life could probably never have existed. There are a huge array of species, but almost all are multicellular and eukaryotic. The plants are able to make food for themselves with just water, carbon dioxode, and sunlight, thus they are almost self-sufficient. They can reproduce asexually or sexually, but the latter is greatly helped along by animals.
V. Kingdom Animalea
The animal kingdom is represented by a huge number of
widely different species. Pictured are a pair of
grasshoppers, which are insects, which are arthropods..etc.
They are not very related to humans, and are much further
down the evolutionary chain. The basic characteristics of
animals are multicellular, eukaryotic, and large. They are
dependent on plants or other animals for food, which also
makes it generally necessary that they be able to move.
