The Animal Kingdom is one of the most interesting themes in the Tarot. It can also be the most confusing one. The Animal Kingdom consists of five realms-plant, animal, fungus, mineral, and human beings. Each realm has many different classifications and species within them. This is a short article introducing the five major classifications of the Animal Kingdom.
The Plant Kingdom includes all plants and animals. All plants live in a land that is differentiated by the fact they are either alive or not. Plants can exist in both aquatic or aeolian environments. The Plant Kingdom can include fungi, algae, Protista, arranged or living animals and bacteria.
The Animal Kingdom has animals classified in three realms. The Phylum, the Class, and the Order each have several different classifications. Each phylum can have as few as five species, whereas the classification can be from one to fifty. The Phylum can have as few as five species, while the order can have as many as one hundred species.
The Classifications of the Animal Kingdom are much more detailed. The Phylum can have as few as three species, or as many as twenty. However, the Phylum Phylogenetically is much more organized. Within each class there are both subclasses and superorganisms. The classification can be by order of magnitude (first, second or third phylum) or on the basis of how closely related the organisms are to other organisms. Some examples of classifications include utherans, metatheriopods, chordates, cetacea, choanoflids, eusocial insects, icontotherms, sphingids, and the metatheriopods.
The next classification is the Order, which is further broken down into two divisions. These are the Classifications of animals that are classified by their place in the animal kingdom. There are nine such classes: Prototheria, chordata, demurrageans, ichthyopods, cephalopods, insects, crustaceans, fish, mollusks, snails, and rotifers. Among these, the cephalopod is the only one without a separate kingdom. Within this order are further divisions as well: the Metaphysans (males & females) and the Crustaceans (both sexes).
The fourth division of the animal kingdom is the Class of reptiles. This includes the iguanodon, alligator, megalocera, mosasaurus, pterodactyl, pterygoid, Squamata, the iguanodon-like, the most complete saurians (the class of modern whales), and various oviraptorans (flying vertebrates). In addition, there are several classifications of insects, including the Coleoptera (insects), the Lepismatidae (males & females), the Scales and Wings, the Chiroptosis (winged, wingless), the Neornithes (parasites), and the Steglostatics (flies). In the insect kingdom, there are several suborders, including the Desmodium which includes a number of moths and crickets, and the Protocinca which include butterflies and caterpillars. There are several families too, such as the Ensifera which includes butterflies, grasshoppers, aphids, caddis flies, cicadas, lacewings, moths, snails, and others.
The Phylum Chordata is the next level after the classification of animals. This includes all mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. The classifications include: the Ornithischia (alligators, crocodiles, salamanders, tortoises), the Testudines (toads, sharks, crabs, chompers), the Saurischia (snakes, salamanders, porpoises, whales), and the Metatheria (mice, birds, amphibians). The classification of reptiles goes on with the Class of Cephalopods (crabs, lobsters, and others).
A part of the classification of animals is the Kingdom Animalia, which consists of animals that have an upright posture with limbs and appendages that have no covering. Among the largest kingdom animalia are the dinosaurs, which were the largest members of the animal kingdom. The three domains of the animal kingdom include the Protossosome (the embryo), the metamorphosis (mammal), and the Eutherian (plant) domains. The classification of organisms goes on to include fishes, marine organisms, land plants and animals which feed on them, such as the jellyfish, anemones, zooplankton, plankton, algae, and protozoans.