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What Are the Different Levels of Taxonomy?

Taxonomy is the scientific term used to classify organisms. The most widely-known and used taxonomy system is named for the Swedish biologist Carolus Linnaeus. The upper level of the taxonomy is the most broad and it narrows to be more specific as you reach the bottom level. Some sublevels exist in the general spectrum, but as a whole, there are seven levels in the Linnaean system. You can see how closely two organisms are related to each other by looking at their taxonomy.

Kingdom
- The broadest level of taxonomy is kingdom. There are six different kingdoms of life including plantae, animalia, fungi, protista, eubacteria and archaebacteria. Humans belong to the kingdom animalia.
Phylum
- Phylum is the second level of classification. Phylum identifies the formation of vertebrae in humans, as opposed to those without vertebrae, such as insects. Humans belong to the phylum of Chordata.
Class
- The third level in taxonomy is class. The major distinction between animals in the same phylum is class. Animals, including humans, that are warm-blooded belong to the mammalia class.
Order
- The fourth level of taxonomy is order. Humans fall into the same order as apes, which is primates.
Family
- Humans fall into the family Hominidae because they walk upright, as opposed to walking on all fours like primates.
Genus
- The sixth order in taxonomy is genus. Humans fall into the genus of "homo," which is the same as our evolutionary predecessors.
Species
- The most specific level of the classification is species. Humans are homo sapiens. Species can breed with each other to form offspring.

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