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phylum

If someone asks you what you have in common with the Antarctic icefish, you can say that you both belong to the same phylum, meaning the same taxonomic group.

Biology types are probably already familiar with using the word phylum as a way to classify animals and plants. Mammals, including humans, are part of the phylum chordata, which also includes fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. As you can see that’s a very broad category. Phylum comes above class and below kingdom in the biological classification system. The ranks get increasingly narrow, working all the way down to species, which is a closely related group.

DEFINITIONS OF: phylum

n (biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes

Types:: show 48 types...; hide 48 types...; Pyrrophyta, phylum Pyrrophyta
a division of lower plants comprising unicellular and biflagellate algae that form starchy compounds; Protozoa, phylum Protozoa
in some classifications considered a superphylum or a subkingdom; comprises flagellates; ciliates; sporozoans; amoebas; foraminifers; Cryptophyta, phylum Cryptophyta
a phylum in the kingdom Protoctista; Chordata, phylum Chordata
comprises true vertebrates and animals having a notochord; Cephalochordata, subphylum Cephalochordata
lancelets; Tunicata, Urochorda, Urochordata, subphylum Tunicata, subphylum Urochorda, subphylum Urochordata
tunicates; Craniata, Vertebrata, subphylum Craniata, subphylum Vertebrata
fishes; amphibians; reptiles; birds; mammals; Arthropoda, phylum Arthropoda
jointed-foot invertebrates: arachnids; crustaceans; insects; millipedes; centipedes; Pentastomida, subphylum Pentastomida
tongue worms; Porifera, phylum Porifera
coextensive with the subkingdom Parazoa: sponges; Cnidaria, Coelenterata, phylum Cnidaria, phylum Coelenterata
hydras; polyps; jellyfishes; sea anemones; corals; Ctenophora, phylum Ctenophora
comb jellies; sea acorns; a small phylum formerly considered a class of Coelenterata; Acanthocephala, phylum Acanthocephala
phylum or class of elongated wormlike parasites that live in the intestines of vertebrates: spiny-headed worms; Chaetognatha, phylum Chaetognatha
arrowworms: a group of small active transparent marine worms; Platyhelminthes, phylum Platyhelminthes
flatworms; Nemertea, Nemertina, phylum Nemertea, phylum Nemertina
proboscis worms; Pogonophora, phylum Pogonophora
beard worms; Rotifera, phylum Rotifera
a phylum including: rotifers; Aschelminthes, Nematoda, phylum Aschelminthes, phylum Nematoda
unsegmented worms: roundworms; threadworms; eelworms; Annelida, phylum Annelida
segmented worms: earthworms; lugworms; leeches; Mollusca, phylum Mollusca
gastropods; bivalves; cephalopods; chitons; Phoronida, Phoronidea, phylum Phoronida
small phylum of wormlike marine animals; Bryozoa, phylum Bryozoa, polyzoa
marine or freshwater animals that form colonies of zooids; Ectoprocta, phylum Ectoprocta
coextensive with or a subphylum of Bryozoa; Endoprocta, Entoprocta, phylum Entoprocta
sometimes considered a subphylum of Bryozoa; Cycliophora, phylum Cycliophora
tiny marine organisms each the size of a period found in great numbers on lobsters' lips; identified tentatively in 1995 as a new phylum or as possible link between Entoprocta and Ectoprocta; Brachiopoda, phylum Brachiopoda
marine invertebrates that resemble mollusks; Sipuncula, phylum Sipuncula
peanut worms; Echinodermata, phylum Echinodermata
radially symmetrical marine invertebrates including e.g. starfish and sea urchins and sea cucumbers; division
(botany) taxonomic unit of plants corresponding to a phylum; Protista, division Protista
eukaryotic one-celled living organisms distinct from multicellular plants and animals: protozoa, slime molds, and eukaryotic algae; Thallophyta
used only in former classifications: comprising what is now considered a heterogeneous assemblage of flowerless and seedless organisms: algae; bacteria; fungi; lichens; Tracheophyta, division Tracheophyta
in former classifications: comprising plants with a vascular system including ferns and fern allies as well as seed plants; Bryophyta, division Bryophyta
a division of nonflowering plants characterized by rhizoids rather than true roots and having little or no organized vascular tissue and showing alternation of generations between gamete-bearing forms and spore-bearing forms; comprises true mosses (Bryopsida) and liverworts (Hepaticopsida) and hornworts (Anthoceropsida); Pteridophyta, division Pteridophyta
containing all the vascular plants that do not bear seeds: ferns, horsetails, club mosses, and whisk ferns; in some classifications considered a subdivision of Tracheophyta; Spermatophyta, division Spermatophyta
seed plants; comprises the Angiospermae (or Magnoliophyta) and Gymnospermae (or Gymnospermophyta); in some classification systems Spermatophyta is coordinate with Pteridophyta (spore producing plants having vascular tissue and roots) and Bryophyta (spore producing plants lacking vascular tissue and roots); Phanerogamae
in former classification systems: one of two major plant divisions, including all seed-bearing plants; superseded by the division Spermatophyta; Cryptogamia
in former classification systems: one of two major plant divisions, including all plants that do not bear seeds: ferns, mosses, algae, fungi; Pteropsida, subdivision Pteropsida
used in former classifications to include all ferns and flowering plants and divided into the three classes Filicinae and Gymnospermae and Angiospermae; Zygomycota, Zygomycotina, subdivision Zygomycota, subdivision Zygomycotina
division of fungi having sexually produced zygospores; Gymnomycota, Myxomycota, division Gymnomycota, division Myxomycota
slime molds; organisms having a noncellular and multinucleate creeping vegetative phase and a propagative spore-producing stage: comprises Myxomycetes and Acrasiomycetes; in some classifications placed in the kingdom Protoctista; Mastigomycota, Mastigomycotina, subdivision Mastigomycota, subdivision Mastigomycotina
fungi in which the spores and gametes are motile; in some systems placed in the Phycomycetes group with the Zygomycota; Lichenes, division Lichenes
comprising the lichens which grow symbiotically with algae; sometimes treated as an independent group more or less coordinate with algae and fungi; Eumycota, division Eumycota
true fungi; eukaryotic heterotrophic walled organisms; distinguished from Myxomycota (funguslike slime molds): comprises subdivisions Mastigomycotina; Zygomycotina; Ascomycotina; Basidiomycotina; Deuteromycotina (imperfect fungi); Deuteromycota, Deuteromycotina, Fungi imperfecti, subdivision Deuteromycota, subdivision Deuteromycotina
large and heterogeneous form division of fungi comprising forms for which no sexually reproductive stage is known; Basidiomycota, Basidiomycotina, subdivision Basidiomycota, subdivision Basidiomycotina
comprises fungi bearing the spores on a basidium; includes Gasteromycetes (puffballs) and Tiliomycetes comprising the orders Ustilaginales (smuts) and Uredinales (rusts) and Hymenomycetes (mushrooms, toadstools, agarics and bracket fungi); in some classification systems considered a division of kingdom Fungi; Ascomycota, Ascomycotina, subdivision Ascomycota, subdivision Ascomycotina
a large subdivision of Eumycota including Hemiascomycetes and Plectomycetes and Pyrenomycetes and Discomycetes; sac fungi; in some classification systems considered a division of the kingdom Fungi; Lycophyta
used in some classifications for the class Lycopsida: club mosses

Type of:: taxon, taxonomic category, taxonomic group
animal or plant group having natural relations

n (linguistics) a large group of languages that are historically related

Type of:: social group
people sharing some social relation

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