The diversity of life
Animals, plants and fungi are the life most of us notice, but they’re only part of the picture. Here’s how the pieces fit together, and what Plantnimals covers today.
Three big branches
Biologists often describe life as three domains. Some newer studies place complex cells inside the archaea branch instead, so treat this as a useful map rather than the final word.
Bacteria
Single cells without a nucleus. They live almost everywhere, including inside us, and recycle nutrients for all other life.
Not covered yetArchaea
Also single cells without a nucleus, but a separate branch. First found in extreme places such as hot springs, they’re now known to be widespread.
Not covered yetEukaryotes
Organisms whose cells have a nucleus. This branch includes every animal, plant and fungus.
Partly coveredKnown and unknown
Counts of described species are approximate and change every year. Estimates of what exists but hasn’t been described yet are far less certain.
Why we don’t cover everything yet
Bacteria and archaea are identified mostly from DNA, rarely have common names and seldom have photos. Our sources and pages are built for organisms you can see and name, so we’d rather add these groups carefully than publish empty or misleading pages.