phylum

/ˈfaɪləm/

/ˈfaɪləm/

Other forms: phyla

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: you are both vertebrates.

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

1. noun

   (biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes
   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
2. noun

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

   social group

   people sharing some social relation