taxonomy /takson″əmē/ [Gk, taxis, arrangement, nomos, rule] , a system for classifying organisms according to their natural relationships on the basis of such common factors as embryology, structure, or physiological chemistry. The system has seven main levels, or taxa, each more comprehensive than those below it: kingdom, phylum (or division), class, order, family, genus, and species. Humans are members of the species Homo sapiens of the genus Homo, in the family Hominidae in the order Primates, in the class Mammalia, in the phylum Chordata, in the kingdom Animalia.
