Explorer

The tree of life (animal branch)

Start at the kingdom and open the drawers. Every animal is a real specimen from our cabinet, with a checked fact and a credited photograph.

kingdom
- phylum Porifera
  - class / group
    - Phylum Porifera
- phylum Cnidaria
  - class / group
    - Aurelia aurita
- phylum Annelida
  - class / group
    - Lumbricus terrestris
- phylum Mollusca
  - class / group
    - Octopus vulgaris
  - class / group
    - Arctica islandica
- phylum Arthropoda
  - class / group
    - Apis mellifera
    - Lucanus cervus
  - class / group
    - Odontodactylus scyllarus
- phylum Tardigrada
  - class / group
    - Phylum Tardigrada
- phylum Echinodermata
  - class / group
    - Asterias rubens
- phylum Chordata
  - class / group
    - Somniosus microcephalus
    - Cetorhinus maximus
  - class / group
    - Ambystoma mexicanum
    - Rana temporaria
  - class / group
    - Sphenodon punctatus
    - Varanus komodoensis
    - Chelonoidis niger
    - Tiliqua scincoides scincoides
    - Zootoca vivipara
  - class / group
    - Falco peregrinus
    - Sterna paradisaea
    - Puffinus puffinus
    - Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
    - Aptenodytes forsteri
    - Mellisuga helenae
    - Diomedea exulans
    - Apus apus
    - Struthio camelus
    - Strigops habroptila
    - Circus cyaneus
  - class / group
    - Balaenoptera musculus
    - Acinonyx jubatus
    - Ornithorhynchus anatinus
    - Erinaceus europaeus
    - Notamacropus rufogriseus
    - Heterocephalus glaber
    - Loxodonta africana
    - Giraffa camelopardalis
    - Halichoerus grypus
    - Mustela erminea
    - Ovis aries

Pick a creature from the drawers and I’ll fetch its card. — U.

This is a simplified view: only eight of the animal phyla are shown, and “fish” here are just our two sharks. The main ranks run domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species. See how classification works.