Taxonomic rank

Taxonomic rank is how scientists organize different living things like animals, plants, and bacteria. Think of it like sorting your toys. You might have a box for your toy cars, another for your stuffed animals, and another for your blocks. Scientists use taxonomic ranks to group different living things together based on their similarities, just like how you group your toys together.

There are eight main taxonomic ranks, and they go from big to small. These ranks are called domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Each rank is divided based on certain features that the living things share. For example, all living things in the animal kingdom are multicellular (made of more than one cell), so scientists group them together in that way.

Let's take dogs as an example. Dogs are part of the animal kingdom, then they belong to the phylum Chordata, which means they have a backbone. They also belong to the class Mammalia because they have milk-producing glands for their young. They are part of the order Carnivora, which means they eat meat, and the family Canidae which includes wolves, foxes, and jackals. Finally, they are part of the genus Canis, and the species Canis lupus familiaris, which indicates they are a domesticated subspecies of the grey wolf.

Overall, taxonomic rank helps scientists study and understand different living things by grouping them together based on their characteristics. Just like how you organize your toys based on their features!