The kingdom Animalia comprises all the creatures we normally think of as animals but it extends further than this, including worms, insects, crustaceans, molluscs, sponges, jellyfish as well as vertebrates. Some animal-like organisms consisting of a single cell or a few cells are included in the category Protista. The bacteria and the archaea are included in the category Monera. Most of the members of this kingdom are active and able to move around, have a mouth or other opening to ingest food, react to outside stimuli and respire, but they do not photosynthesize like plants do. Modern genetic analysis is showing unexpected relationships between disparate groups and demonstrating that what had been thought to be closely related groups are actually further apart. The Animalia are now thought to be more closely related to the kingdom Fungi than the kingdom Plantae. Subcategories are organized according to the taxon tree: - Phylum -- Class --- Order ---- Family ----- Genus ------ Species Not all taxonomic branches are fully developed.

The kingdom Fungi comprises not only the more familiar mushrooms and toadstools but also lichens, moulds, rusts, smuts and rot. In fact what we see are the fruiting bodies of the fungi,these being supported by a network of root-like strands called hyphae beneath the surface. Most fungi are saprobes, breaking down organic material and especially wood. Some are parasites and may be significant agents of plant or animal disease and some form a mutually beneficial relationship with the roots of plants. The phylum Basidiomycota includes the common mushrooms and toadstools, puffballs and bracket fungi and the phylum Ascomycota includes truffles, morels and other fungi with cup-shaped, club-shaped or various strangely-shaped fruiting bodies. There is great diversity in shape of these and their appearance may not be a good guide to their classification. The other main phyla are the Zygomycota or pin-moulds and the Chytridiomycota whose members are mostly aquatic, some being parasites. Modern genetic analysis is showing unexpected relationships between disparate groups and demonstrating that what had been thought to be closely related groups are actually far apart. The Fungi are now thought to be more closely related to the animal kingdom than the plant kingdom. Subcategories are organized according to the taxon tree: - Divisions -- Families --- Genera

Kingdom Monera Subcategories are organized according to taxon tree: - Phyla -- Families --- Genuses Clases, Orders and Subtaxons are missed for escaping from "unstable" taxons.

Members of the kingdom Plantae are characterized by containing the green pigment chlorophyll which enables them to use light as their main source of energy. They include liverworts, hornworts, mosses, clubmosses, quillworts, horsetails, ferns, cycads, gingkos, conifers and the host of flowering plants and grasses that surround us. Green algae are also now usually considered to be plants but will be found in this directory under the category Protista.
Potential contents include descriptions and images of the organisms, classification, anatomy, physiology, distribution, reproduction and life cycle, habitat, biological or ecological aspects of management and endangered-species status.

The Kingdom-level grouping known as Protista or Protoctistae consists mainly of microscopic organisms. It is defined by exclusion: its members are neither animals (which develop from a blastula), plants (which develop from an embryo), fungi (which lack undulipodia and develop from spores), nor prokaryotes. It includes the green algae (Gamophyta and Chlorophyta), red algae (Rhodophyta), brown algae (Phaeophyta), diatoms (Bacillariophyta), and other groups. Different authorities have differing views on the taxonomy of these organisms.