The evolutionary tree of living things is currently supposed to run something along the lines of that listed below. Most of the tree was based on ideas from cladistics; where more than two groups are shown in a single branch, there is disagreement about how they diverged. Hypothetically taxonomy would follow the tree whenever possible, but in many places it does not at present.
The description as a "tree" results from earlier ideas of life as a progression from lower to higher forms. Although such views are discredited now, the imagery is too well established to be readily lost.
The terminology originates with Linnaean taxonomy: living things are classified as belonging to domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species.
- Life
- Domain Eubacteria
- Aquificales
- CFB/Green sulfur bacteria group
- Chlamydiales/Verrucomicrobia group
- Chrysiogenes group
- Coprothermobacter group
- Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae)
- Dictyoglomus group
- Fibrobacter/Acidobacteria group
- Firmicutes (gram-positive bacteria)
- Flexistipes group
- Fusobacteria
- Green non-sulfur bacteria
- Nitrospira group
- Proteobacteria
- Spirochaetales
- Synergistes group
- Thermodesulfobacterium group
- Thermotogales
- Thermus/Deinococcus group
- ...
- Domain Archaea
- Crenarchaeota (extremely thermophilic archaebacteria)
- Euryarchaeota
- Korarchaeota
- ...
- Domain Eukaryota, organisms with cells containing a nucleus
- Pelobionts
- Entamoebae
- Retortamonads
- Diplomonads (e.g. Giardia)
- Oxymonads
- Parabasalia
- Jakobids
- Heterolobosea (e.g. Naegleria, Acrasis)
- Euglenozoa (e.g. Euglena, Bodo, Trypanosoma'')
- Stephanopogon
- Nucleariids
- Apusomonads
- Cercomonads
- Ellobiopsids
- Kathablepharids
- Pseudodendromonads
- Spironemids
- Spongomonads
- Thaumatomonads
- Chlorarachniophytes
- Copromyxids
- Granuloreticulosa (e.g. Foraminiferans)
- Plasmodiophorids
- Vampyrellids
- Ramicristates (most lobose and filose amoebae, plasmodial and cellular slime moulds, e.g. Amoeba, Physarum, Dictyosteliium)
- Dimorphids
- Desmothoracids
- Gymnosphaerids
- Sticholonche
- Acantharea
- Phaeodarea
- Polycystinea
- Paramyxea
- Haplosporidia
- Alveolates
- Apicomplexa (e.g. Plasmodium)
- Ciliates (e.g. Paramecium, Stentor)
- Dinoflagellates (e.g. Noctiluca)
- Ebriids
- Haptophytes
- Stramenopiles (e.g. golden algae, diatoms, brown algae, water molds)
- Xenophyophorea
- Cryptomonads
- Glaucophytes
- Red algae (e.g. Polysiphonia)
- Gymnophrea
- Centrohelids
- "Opisthokonts"
- Kingdom Plantae, plants and green algae
- Domain Eubacteria
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