Phylum

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Phylum

A phylum (plural

Plural

Plural is a grammatical number, typically referring to more than one of the referent in the real world. In the English language, singular and plural are the only grammatical numbers....
: phyla)"Phylum" is adopted from the Greek phylai, the clan-based voting groups in Greek city-states. is a taxonomic rank

Taxonomic rank

Taxonomic rank, taxonomic category, rank, or category is an abstract term used in the scientific classification, or taxonomy, of organisms....
below Kingdom

Kingdom (biology)

In Biology taxonomy, kingdom or regnum is a taxonomic rank in either the highest rank, or the Rank below domain . Each kingdom is divided into smaller groups called Phylum ....
and above Class

Class (biology)

A class is the taxonomic rank in the biological classification of organisms in biology below phylum and above Order .The orders of taxonomy are life, Domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
. "Phylum" is equivalent to the botanical term division.

Although a phylum is often spoken of as if it were a hard and fast entity, no satisfactory definition of a phylum exists. Consequently the number of phyla varies from author to author.

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Encyclopedia

A phylum (plural

Plural

Taxonomic rank

Taxonomic rank, taxonomic category, rank, or category is an abstract term used in the scientific classification, or taxonomy, of organisms....
below Kingdom

Kingdom (biology)

Class (biology)

Body plan

A body plan, or bauplan, is essentially the blueprint for the way the body of an organism is laid out. An organism's symmetry , its number of body segments and number of Limb are all aspects of its body plan....
, developmental or internal organizations. For example, though seemingly divergent, spiders and crabs both belong to Arthropoda, whereas earthworms and tapeworms, similar in shape, are from Annelida and Platyhelminthes, respectively. Although the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature

International Code of Botanical Nomenclature

The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants....
allows the use of the term "phylum" in reference to plants, the term "Division" is almost always used by botanists.

The best known animal phyla are the Mollusca, Porifera, Cnidaria

Cnidaria

Cnidaria Cnidarians were for a long time grouped with Ctenophores in the phylum Coelenterata, but increasing awareness of their differences caused them to be placed in separate phyla....
, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida, Arthropod

Arthropod

Arthropods are animals belonging to the Scientific classification Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others....
a, Echinodermata, and Chordata

Chordate

Chordates are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, at some time in their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail....
, the phylum to which humans belong. Although there are approximately 35 phyla, these nine include over 96% of animal species. Many phyla are exclusively marine, and only one phylum, the Onychophora (velvet worms) is entirely absent from the world's ocean

Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
s–although ancestral oncyophorans were marine.

The origin of phyla has traditionally been interpreted as a sudden and rapid event early in the Cambrian period, known as the Cambrian explosion

Cambrian explosion

The Cambrian explosion or Cambrian radiation was the seemingly rapid appearance of most major groups of complex animals around , as evidenced by the fossil record....
. However, this interpretation stemmed from an incomplete knowledge of the fossil record, and a circular definition of a phylum; organisms of the time were mainly similar to, but not strictly members of, modern phyla. The significance of this event depends on (1) for how long modern phyla had existed prior to the Cambrian–fossil embryos

Fossil embryos

Many fossils of the Doushantuo formation have been interpreted as fossil embryos; embryos are also common throughout the Cambrian fossil record....
and new interpretations of the Ediacara biota

Ediacara biota

The Ediacara biota are ancient life-forms of the Ediacaran Period, which represent the earliest known complex multicellular organisms.Simple multicellular organisms such as red algae evolved at least . They appeared soon after the Earth thawed from the Cryogenian period's Snowball Earth, and largely disappeared...
suggest that there may be a fair Precambrian root to the phyla; and (2) how soon phyla appeared in the Cambrian, a factor that depends on both the definition of a phylum and our interpretation of early fossils which may not display vital characteristics–for instance, non-mineralised parts of organisms rarely preserve.

The magnitude of the event was also overestimated as early authors felt it necessary to erect a new phylum for any organism that could not be accommodated in modern phyla. This approach is misleading and unhelpful; by one definition, such organisms do not fall into any phylum, but are classified as "aunts" of a phylum.

Defining a phylum

At the most basic level, a phylum can be defined in two ways: as a group of organisms with a certain degree of morphological or developmental similarity (the phenetic definition), or a group of organisms with a certain degree of relatedness (the phylogenetic definition). Attempting to define a level of the Linnean hierarchy without referring to relatedness is an unsatisfactory approach, but the phenetic definition is more useful when addressing questions of a morphological nature–such as how successful different body plans were.

The largest objective measure in the above definitions is the "certain degree"–how unrelated do organisms need to be to be members of different phyla? Implicitly, the general definition is that they should be closely enough related that it is clear that they are more closely related to one another than to any other group. However, this too is problematic, as the definition is a function of our current knowledge about relationships. As more data becomes available, particularly from molecular studies, we are better able to judge the relationships between groups; therefore the phyla will eventually be merged as it becomes apparent that they are related to one another; for instance, the onychophora and tardigrada are now accepted as stem group arthropod

Arthropod

Arthropods are animals belonging to the Scientific classification Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others....
s; by the general definition, these three phyla should be combined.

This has led to calls for the concept of a phylum to be abandoned in favour of cladistics, a method in groups are placed on a "family tree" without any formal ranking of group size. So as to provide a handle on the size and significance of groups, a "body-plan" based definition of a phylum has been proposed by paleontologists Graham Budd an Sören Jensen. The definition was posited by paleontologists because it is extinct organisms that are typically hardest to classify, because they can be extinct off-shoots that diverged from a phylum's history before the characters that define the modern phylum were all acquired.

By Budd and Jensen's definition, phyla are defined by a set of characters shared by all their living representatives. This has a couple of small problems – for instance, characters common to most members of a phylum may be secondarily lost by some members. It is also defined based on an arbitrary point of time (the present). However, as it is character based, it is easy to apply to the fossil record. A more major problem is that it relies on an objective decision of which group of organisms should be considered a phylum.

Its utility is that it makes it easy to classify extinct organisms as "stem groups" to the phyla with which they bear the most resemblance, based only on the taxonomically important similarities. However, proving that a fossil belongs to the crown group of a phylum is difficult, as it must display a character unique to a sub-set of the crown group. Further, organisms in the stem group to a phylum can bear all the aspects of the "body plan" of the phylum without all the characters necessary to fall within it. This weakens the idea that each of the phyla represents a distinct body plan.

Based upon this definition, which some say is unreasonably affected by the chance survival of rare groups, which vastly increase the size of phyla, representatives of many modern phyla did not appear until long after the Cambrian–as late as the Carboniferous in the case of the Priapulids.

Lists

Animal phyla

Phylum	Meaning	Group	Distinguishing characteristics	Species described
Acanthocephala Acanthocephala The Acanthocephala is a phylum of parasitic worms known as acanthocephales, thorny-headed worms, or spiny-headed worms, characterised by the presence of an evertable proboscis, armed with spines, which it uses to pierce and hold the gut wall of its host....	Thorny head	Thorny-headed worms	Reversible spiny proboscis Proboscis In general, a proboscis is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate..The correct Greek plural is proboscides, but in English it is more common to simply add -es, forming proboscises....	about 750
Acoelomorpha Acoelomorpha The Acoelomorpha are a phylum of animals with Planula features and formerly considered to be in flatworm, but recently classified by Jaume Bagu?? and Marta Riutort as a separate phylum, Basal among the Bilateria....	Without gut	Acoels	No mouth or alimentary canal
Annelida	Little ring	Segmented worms	Multiple circular segments	about 15,300 modern
Arthropoda	Jointed foot	Arthropods	Chitin Chitin Chitin n is a long-chain polymer of a N-acetylglucosamine, a derivative of glucose, and is found in many places throughout the natural world.... exoskeleton Exoskeleton An exoskeleton is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal endoskeleton of, for example, a human skeleton....	1,134,000+
Brachiopoda	Arm foot	Lamp shells	Lophophore Lophophore The lophophore is a characteristic feeding organ possessed by three major groups of animals: the Brachiopoda, Bryozoa, and Phoronida . All lophophores are found in aquatic organisms.... and pedicle Pedicle Pedicle or pedicel may refer to:*pedicle of vertebral arch , the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures...	between 300 and 500 extant
Bryozoa Bryozoa Bryozoans are tiny colonial animals that generally build stony skeletons of calcium carbonate, superficially similar to coral . Members of the Phylum Bryozoa are known as "moss animals" or "moss animacules" or as "sea mats"....	Moss animals	Moss animals, sea mats	Lophophore, no pedicle, ciliated tentacle Tentacle Tentacles can refer to the elongated flexible organs that are present in some animals, especially invertebrates, and sometimes to the hairs of the leaves of some carnivorous plant.... s	about 5,000 living species
Chaetognatha Chaetognatha Chaetognatha is a Phylum of predatory marine worms that are a major component of plankton worldwide. About 20% of the known species are benthic and can attach to algae or rocks....	Longhair jaw	Arrow worms	Chitin Chitin Chitin n is a long-chain polymer of a N-acetylglucosamine, a derivative of glucose, and is found in many places throughout the natural world.... ous spines either side of head, fins	about 100 modern species
Chordata	Cord	Chordates	Hollow dorsal nervous chord Nervous system The nervous system is a Neural network of specialized cells that communicate information about an animal's surroundings and itself. It processes this information and causes reactions in other parts of the body.... , notochord Notochord The notochord is a flexible, rod-shaped body found in embryos of all chordates. It is composed of cell s derived from the mesoderm and defines the primitive axis of the embryo.... , pharyngeal slit Pharyngeal slit Pharyngeal slits, characteristic of both hemichordata and chordata, are used by organisms in feeding. The wall of the pharynx is perforated by up to 200 vertical slits, which are separated by stiffening rods.... s, endostyle Endostyle An endostyle is a longitudinal ciliated groove on the ventral wall of the pharynx which produces mucus to gather food particles. It is found in urochordates and cephalochordates, and in the larvae of lampreys.... , post-anal Anus The anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to expel feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest, such as coprolite ; food material after all the nutrients have b... tail Tail The tail is the section at the rear end of an animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals and birds....	about 100,000+
Cnidaria Cnidaria Cnidaria Cnidarians were for a long time grouped with Ctenophores in the phylum Coelenterata, but increasing awareness of their differences caused them to be placed in separate phyla....		Coelenterates	Nematocysts (stinging cells)	about 11,000
Ctenophora	Comb bearer	Comb jellies	Eight "comb rows" of fused cilia	about 100 modern species
Cycliophora	Wheel carrying	Symbion Symbion *Symbion* is the name of a genus of aquatic animals, less than ? mm wide, found living attached to the bodies of cold-water lobsters. They have sac-like bodies, and three distinctly different forms in different parts of their two-stage life-cycle....	Circular mouth surrounded by small cilia	at least 3
Echinodermata	Spiny skin	Echinoderms	Five-fold radial symmetry Symmetry Symmetry generally conveys two primary meanings. The first is an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically-pleasing proportionality and balance; such that it reflects beauty or perfection.... in living forms, mesodermal Germ layer A germ layer is a group of cell s, formed during animal embryogenesis. Germ layers are particularly pronounced in the vertebrates; however, all animals more complex than sea sponge produce two or three primary tissue layers .... calcified spines	about 7,000 extant and 13,000 extinct species
Echiura Echiura The Echiura, or spoon worms, are a small group of ocean animals. They are often considered to be a group of annelids, although they lack the segmented structure found in other members of that group, and so may also be treated as a separate phylum....	Spine tail	Spoon worms	Set of hooks at posterior end	about 140
Entoprocta Entoprocta Entoprocta is a phylum of small aquatic animals, ranging in size from 0.5 mm to 5.0 mm. They have a lophophore, and as their name suggests, are distinguished from other lophophorates by the position of the anus inside the ring of cilia rather than outside....	Inside anus Anus The anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to expel feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest, such as coprolite ; food material after all the nutrients have b...	Goblet worm	Anus inside ring of cilia	about 150
Gastrotricha	Hair stomach	Meiofauna	Two terminal adhesive tubes	about 690
Gnathostomulida	Jaw orifice	Jaw worms		about 100
Hemichordata Hemichordata Hemichordata is a Phylum of worm-shaped marine deuterostome animals, generally considered the sister group of the echinoderms. They date back to the Lower or Middle Cambrian and include an important class of fossils called graptolites, most of which became extinct in the Carboniferous....	Half cord	Acorn worms, pterobranchs	Stomochord in collar, pharyngeal slit Pharyngeal slit Pharyngeal slits, characteristic of both hemichordata and chordata, are used by organisms in feeding. The wall of the pharynx is perforated by up to 200 vertical slits, which are separated by stiffening rods.... s	about 100 living species
Kinorhyncha Kinorhyncha Kinorhyncha is a phylum of small marine body cavity invertebrates that are widespread in mud or sand at all depths as part of the meiobenthos....	Motion snout	Mud dragons	Eleven segments, each with a dorsal plate	about 150
Loricifera Loricifera Loricifera is a small phylum of marine sediment-dwelling animals with twenty-two described species, in eight genera. Aside from these described species, there are approximately 100 more which have been collected and not yet described....	Corset bearer	Brush heads	Umbrella-like scales at each end	about 122
Micrognathozoa	Tiny jaw animals	—	Accordion Accordion The accordion is a portable box-shaped musical instrument of the hand-held bellows-driven free reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox.... like extensible thorax Thorax The thorax is a division of an animal's body that lies between the head and the abdomen.In mammals, the thorax is the region of the body formed by the sternum, the thoracic vertebrae and the ribs....	1
Mollusca Mollusca MolluscsSpelled mollusk in the USA; the spelling "mollusc" is preferred by some authors, see the reasons given by . are animals belonging to the Phylum Mollusca....	Thin shell	Mollusks / molluscs	Muscular foot and mantle Mantle (mollusc) The mantle is a significant part of the anatomy of molluscs: it is the dorsum body wall which covers the visceral mass.In many, but by no means all, species of molluscs, the Epidermis of the mantle secretes calcium carbonate and conchiolin, and creates a mollusc shell.... round shell	112,000
Nematoda	Thread like	Round worms	Round cross section, keratin Keratin Keratins are a family of fibrous protein; tough and insoluble, they form the hard but mineral structures found in reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals.... cuticle Cuticle In biology, a cuticle or cuticula is any of a variety of tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings of an organism, or part of an organism, that provide protection....	80 000 – 1 million
Nematomorpha Nematomorpha Nematomorpha are a phylum of parasitic animals which are morphology and ecology similar to nematode worms, hence the name. They range in size from 1cm to 1 meter long, and 1 to 3 millimetres in diameter....	Thread form	Horsehair worms		about 320
Nemertea Nemertea Nemertea is a phylum of invertebrate animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms. Most of the 1,400 or so species are marine, with a few living in fresh water and a small number of terrestrial animal; they are found in all marine habits, and throughout the world's oceans....	A sea nymph	Ribbon worms		about 1200
Onychophora	Claw bearer	Velvet worms	Legs tipped by chitinous claws	about 200 modern
Orthonectida Orthonectida Orthonectida is a small phylum of poorly-known parasites of marine invertebrates that are among the simplest of multi-cellular organisms. Members of this phylum are known as orthonectids....	Straight swim		Single layer of ciliated cells surrounding a mass of sex cells	about 20
Phoronida	Zeus' mistress	Horseshoe worms	U-shaped gut	20
Placozoa	Plate animals			1
Platyhelminthes	Flat worms	Flat worms		about 25,000
Porifera	Pore bearer	Sponges	Perforated interior wall	over 5,000 modern
Priapulida Priapulida Priapulida are a Phylum of marine worms with an extensible spiny proboscis. Priapulid fossils are known at least as far back as the Middle Cambrian....	Penis	Priapulid worms	Retractable proboscis surrounded by papillae	17
Rhombozoa Rhombozoa Rhombozoa, or Dicyemida, is a phylum of tiny parasites that live in the kidney of cephalopods. Although the name Dicyemida precedes Rhombozoa in usage, and is preferred by most contemporary authors, Rhombozoa still enjoys much popular support....	Lozenge animal	—	Single axial Axial Axial has different meanings:* In geometry, it means: along the same line as an axis of rotation or centerline: parallel , contrary to radial, perpendicular or tangential... cell Cell (biology) The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known Life organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building bricks of life.... surrounded by ciliated cells	75
Rotifera	Wheel bearer	Rotifers	Anterior crown of cilia	about 2000
Sipuncula Sipuncula The Sipuncula or Sipunculida, sipunculid worms or peanut worms, are a Phylum containing 144-320 species of bilateral symmetry, segmentation sea worms....	Small tube	Peanut worms	Mouth surrounded by invertible tentacles	144–320
Tardigrada	Slow step	Water bears	Four segmented body and head	1,000+
Xenoturbellida	Strange flatworm	—	Ciliated deuterostome	2
TOTAL: 36				2,000,000-

Groups formerly ranked as phyla

Name as phylum	Common name	Current consensus
Aschelminthes	Pseudocoelomates	Divided into several pseudocoelomate phyla.
Craniata Craniata Craniata is a proposed clade of Chordata animals that contains the vertebrates and Myxini as living representatives. Craniata includes all animals with a skull, or cranium, as the name suggests....	—	Subgroup of phylum Chordata; perhaps synonymous with Vertebrata.
Cephalochordata	Lancelets	Subphylum of phylum Chordata.
Cephalorhyncha	—	Superphylum Scalidophora Scalidophora Scalidophora is a group of marine body cavity invertebrates, consisting of the three phylum Kinorhyncha, Priapulida, and Loricifera. The members of the group share a number of characteristics, including introvert larvae and moulting of the cuticle .... .
Enterepneusta	Acorn worms	Class of phylum Hemichordata Hemichordata Hemichordata is a Phylum of worm-shaped marine deuterostome animals, generally considered the sister group of the echinoderms. They date back to the Lower or Middle Cambrian and include an important class of fossils called graptolites, most of which became extinct in the Carboniferous.... .
Gephyra	Peanut worms and spoon worms	Divided into phyla Sipuncula Sipuncula The Sipuncula or Sipunculida, sipunculid worms or peanut worms, are a Phylum containing 144-320 species of bilateral symmetry, segmentation sea worms.... and Echiura Echiura The Echiura, or spoon worms, are a small group of ocean animals. They are often considered to be a group of annelids, although they lack the segmented structure found in other members of that group, and so may also be treated as a separate phylum.... .
Mesozoa Mesozoa The Mesozoa are enigmatic, minuscule, worm-like parasites of marine invertebrates. It is still unclear as to whether they are degenerate platyhelminthes or truly-primitive, basal metazoans....	Mesozoans	Divided into phyla Orthonectida Orthonectida Orthonectida is a small phylum of poorly-known parasites of marine invertebrates that are among the simplest of multi-cellular organisms. Members of this phylum are known as orthonectids.... and Rhombozoa Rhombozoa Rhombozoa, or Dicyemida, is a phylum of tiny parasites that live in the kidney of cephalopods. Although the name Dicyemida precedes Rhombozoa in usage, and is preferred by most contemporary authors, Rhombozoa still enjoys much popular support.... .
Myxozoa Myxozoa The Myxozoa are a group of parasite animals of aquatic environments. Over 1300 species have been described and many have a two-host lifecycle, involving a fish and an annelid worm or bryozoan....	—	Severely modified Cnidarians.
Pentastomida Pentastomida The Pentastomida are a group of parasite invertebrates commonly known as tongue worms due to the resemblance of the species of the genus Linguatula to a vertebrate tongue....	Tongue worms	Subclass of Maxillopoda Maxillopoda Maxillopoda is a class under the phylum Arthropoda, subphylum Crustacea, and is characterised by a reduction of the abdomen and its appendages.... of phylum Arthropoda.
Pogonophora Pogonophora There are two taxa with the name Pogonophora:Pogonophora - an obsolete animal phylum, now treated as part of the family SiboglinidaePogonophora - a genus in the Euphorbiaceae...	Beard worms	Part of family Siboglinidae Siboglinidae Siboglinidae, also known as the beard worms, is a family of polychaete Annelida whose members made up the former phylum Pogonophora and Vestimentifera.... of phylum Annelida.
Pterobranchia Pterobranchia Pterobranchia is a clade of small, worm-shaped animal. They belong to the hemichordata, and live in secretion tubes on the ocean floor. Pterobranchia feed by filtering plankton out of the water with the help of cilia attached to tentacles....	—	Class of phylum Hemichordata Hemichordata Hemichordata is a Phylum of worm-shaped marine deuterostome animals, generally considered the sister group of the echinoderms. They date back to the Lower or Middle Cambrian and include an important class of fossils called graptolites, most of which became extinct in the Carboniferous.... .
Symplasma	Glass sponges	Class Hexactinellida of phylum Porifera.
Urochordata	Tunicates	Subphylum of phylum Chordata.
Vestimentifera	Vent worms	Part of family Siboglinidae Siboglinidae Siboglinidae, also known as the beard worms, is a family of polychaete Annelida whose members made up the former phylum Pogonophora and Vestimentifera.... of phylum Annelida.

Plant divisions

Division	Meaning	Common name	Distinguishing characteristics
Anthocerotophyta	Flower-horn plants	Hornworts	Horn-shaped sporophyte Sporophyte All land plants, and some algae, have life cycles in which a haploid gametophyte generation alternates with a diploid sporophyte, the generation of a plant or alga that has a double set of chromosomes.... s, no vascular system
Bryophyta Moss Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1?10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations....	Moss plants	Mosses	Persistent unbranched sporophyte Sporophyte All land plants, and some algae, have life cycles in which a haploid gametophyte generation alternates with a diploid sporophyte, the generation of a plant or alga that has a double set of chromosomes.... s, no vascular system
Marchantiophyta	Marchantia plants	Liverworts	Ephemeral unbranched sporophyte Sporophyte All land plants, and some algae, have life cycles in which a haploid gametophyte generation alternates with a diploid sporophyte, the generation of a plant or alga that has a double set of chromosomes.... s, no vascular system
Lycopodiophyta Lycopodiophyta The Division Lycopodiophyta is a vascular plant subdivision of the Kingdom Plantae. It is the oldest extant vascular plant division at around 420 million years old, and includes some of the most "primitive" extant species....	Wolf foot plants	Clubmosses & Spikemosses	Microphyll Microphyll The terminology of fossil plants is in places a little confusing. In the discipline's 200+ year history, certain concepts have become entrenched, even though improved understanding has threatened the foundations upon which they are based.... leaves Leaf In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues.... , vascular system
Pteridophyta	Fern plants	Ferns & Horsetails	Prothallus gametophyte Gametophyte In plants and algae that undergo alternation of generations, a gametophyte is the multicellular structure, or phase, that is haploid, containing a single set of chromosomes:... s, vascular system
Pteridospermatophyta Pteridospermatophyta Pteridospermatophyta, also called seed ferns, is an extinct spermatophyte group of the Plantae kingdom . Members of this division were predominant at the late Devonian, declined some , and mostly disappeared by the Cretaceous, though fossil evidence indicates that they survived into the Eocene in Tasmania....	Fern with seeds plant	Seed ferns	Only known from fossils, mostly Devonian Devonian The Devonian is a geologic period of the Paleozoic era spanning from . It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied.... , ranking in dispute
Pinophyta Pinophyta The conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxon within the Plant. They are Conifer cone-bearing seed plants with Vascular plant tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority being trees with just a few being shrubs....	Sap/pitch plants	Conifers	Cones containing seeds and wood composed of tracheids
Cycadophyta	Palm plants	Cycads	Seeds, crown of compound leaves
Ginkgophyta	Ginkgo plants	Ginkgo, Maidenhair	Seeds not protected by fruit (single species)
Gnetophyta Gnetophyta The plant division Gnetophyta or gnetophytes comprise three related families of woody plants grouped in the gymnosperms. The gnetophytes differ from other gymnosperms in having vessel elements as in the flowering plants ....		Gnetophytes	Seeds and woody vascular system with vessels
Anthophyta Flowering plant The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte.... (or Magnoliophyta Flowering plant The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte.... )	Flower plant	Flowering plants	Flowers and fruit, vascular system with vessels

Fungal divisions

Phylum	Meaning	Common name	Distinguishing characteristics
Chytridiomycota Chytridiomycota Chytridiomycota or chytrid is a division of the Fungi kingdom . The name is derived from the Greek language chytridion, meaning "little pot"--describing the structure containing unreleased spores....	Little pot mushroom	Chytrids	Cellulose in cell walls, flagellated gametes
Deuteromycota	Second mushroom	Imperfect fungi	Only reproduce asexually
Zygomycota Zygomycota Zygomycota, or zygote fungi, are a phylum of fungus. The name of the phylum comes from zygosporangium, where resistant spherical spores are formed during sexual reproduction....	Yoke mushroom	Zygomycetes	Blend gametangia Gametangia A gametangium is an Organ or cell in which gametes are produced that is found in many multicellular protists, algae, Fungus, and the gametophytes of plants.... to form a zygosporangium
Glomeromycota Glomeromycota Glomeromycota is one of seven currently recognized phyla within the Kingdom Fungi, with approximately 200 described species. Members of the Glomeromycota form arbuscular mycorrhizas with the roots or thalli of land plants....	Ball mushroom	None	Form arbuscular mycorrhizae with plants
Ascomycota Ascomycota The Ascomycota are a Phylum of the kingdom Fungi, and subkingdom Dikarya, whose members are commonly known as the Sac Fungi. They are the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 30,000 species....	Bag/Wineskin Mushroom	Sac fungi	Produce spores in an 'ascus Ascus An ascus is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in Ascomycota fungi. On average, asci normally contain 8 ascospores, produced by a meiosis cell division followed, in most species, by a mitosis cell division.... '
Basidiomycota Basidiomycota Basidiomycota is one of two large phylum that, together with the Ascomycota, comprise the subkingdom Dikarya within the Kingdom Fungi. More specifically the Basidiomycota include mushrooms, puffballs, stinkhorns, bracket fungi, other polypores, jelly fungi, boletes, cantharellus, Geastraceae, smut , common bunt, rust , mirror yeasts, and the...	Basidium Mushroom	Club Fungi	Produce spores from a 'basidium Basidium A basidium is a microscopic, spore-producing structure found on the hymenophore of fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi. The presence of basidia is one of the main characteristic features of the Basidiomycota.... '

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Etymology

Etymology is the study of the roots and history of words; and how their form and meaning have changed over time.In languages with a long detailed history, etymology makes use of philology, the study of how words change from culture to culture over time....
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: New Latin phylum, from Greek phulon, class.
: from Gk. phylon "race, stock," related to phyle "tribe, clan," and phylein "bring forth" of physikos "pertaining to nature," from physis "nature"

Phylum

Defining a phylum

Lists

Animal phyla

Groups formerly ranked as phyla

Plant divisions

Fungal divisions

See also

External links