Outline of life forms

A life form is something that is living, like plants (flora), animals (fauna), and fungi (funga). Earth is the only place we know where living things can exist. Scientists have not found life on any other planets or stars yet.

It is believed that more than 99% of all the different kinds of living things that ever lived on Earth are no longer around. This means that over five billion species have gone extinct, leaving only a small number still alive today.

The study of life forms helps us understand how plants, animals, and other living things grow, change, and interact with each other and the world around them. This knowledge is important for taking care of our planet and all the creatures that call it home.

Archaea

Archaea are tiny, single-celled living things that look like bacteria but have special genes that are more like those of more complex cells. Many of them live in very tough places, like very hot springs or very salty lakes, but they can also be found in many other places.

Some groups of Archaea include Thermoproteota, Euryarchaeota, Halophiles, Korarchaeota, Lokiarchaeota, Methanogens, Nanoarchaeota, and Psychrophiles. These tiny organisms show us how life can survive in very different and extreme conditions on Earth.

Bacteria

Bacteria are tiny living things that are found everywhere. They can be divided into two main groups based on their structure. Some bacteria, called Gram positive, do not have an outer layer around their cells. Others, called Gram negative, do have this outer layer. These groups include many different types of bacteria, each with its own special features and roles in nature.

Eukaryote

Eukaryote – organisms whose cells contain complex structures enclosed within membranes.

Unikonta

Opisthokonta

• Animal – multicellular eukaryotic organisms that form the biological kingdom Animalia. Animals usually consume organic material, breathe oxygen, can move, reproduce sexually, and grow from a hollow sphere of cells called the blastula during embryonic development.

Subkingdom Parazoa

• Porifera
• Placozoa

Subkingdom Eumetazoa

• Radiata (unranked)

  • Ctenophora
  • Cnidaria

• Bilateria (unranked)

  • Deuterostomia

    • Chordata
      • Cat
      • Cat behavior
    • Hemichordata
    • Echinodermata
    • Xenoturbellida
    • Vetulicolia †

  • Protostomia (unranked)

    • Superphylum Ecdysozoa

      • Kinorhyncha
      • Loricifera
      • Priapulida
      • Nematoda
      • Nematomorpha
      • Lobopodia
      • Onychophora
      • Tardigrada
      • Arthropoda

    • Superphylum Platyzoa

      • Platyhelminthes
      • Gastrotricha
      • Rotifera
      • Acanthocephala
      • Gnathostomulida
      • Micrognathozoa
      • Cycliophora

    • Superphylum Lophotrochozoa

      • Sipuncula
      • Hyolitha †
      • Nemertea
      • Phoronida
      • Bryozoa
      • Entoprocta
      • Brachiopoda
      • Mollusca
      • Annelida
      • Echiura

• Mesomycetozoa

• Fungi – organisms that include tiny yeasts and molds, as well as bigger mushrooms.

  • Blastocladiomycota

    • Chytridiomycota
    • Glomeromycota
    • Microsporidia
    • Neocallimastigomycota

  • Dikarya (inc. Deuteromycota)

    • Ascomycota

      • Pezizomycotina
      • Saccharomycotina
      • Taphrinomycotina

    • Basidiomycota

      • Agaricomycotina
      • Pucciniomycotina
      • Ustilaginomycotina

  • Subphyla incertae sedis

    • Entomophthoromycotina
    • Kickxellomycotina
    • Mucoromycotina
    • Zoopagomycotina

• Amoebozoa

  • Conosa

    • Mycetozoa (slime-molds)
    • Archamoebae

  • Lobosa

  • Protamoebae

Bikonta

• Apusozoa

• Excavata

• Archaeplastida (plants, broadly defined)

  • Glaucophyta – glaucophytes

  • Rhodophyceae – red algae

  • Chloroplastida

  • Chlorophyta – green algae (part)

  • Ulvophyceae

  • Trebouxiophyceae

  • Chlorophyceae

  • Chlorodendrales – green algae (part)

  • Prasinophytae – green algae (part)

  • Mesostigma

  • Charophyta sensu lato – green algae (part) and land plants

    • Streptophytina – stoneworts and land plants

      • Charales – stoneworts
      • Plantae – land plants (embryophytes)

• SAR supergroup

  • Alveolata
  • Heterokonta
  • Rhizaria