What is the meaning of the word phylum

Definition of phylum

1a : a direct line of descent within a group. b : a group that constitutes or has the unity of a phylum specifically : a primary category in biological taxonomy especially of animals that ranks above the class and below the kingdom — compare division sense 10.

Etymology. From Latin phylum, from Ancient Greek φῦλον (phûlon, “tribe, race”).

Our scientific name indicates that we are in the genus and species homo and sapiens. Our family is the hominid, within the order primate, within the class mammal, within the phylum chordate, within the kingdom animalia, within the domain Eukarya.

phylum (n.)

“a primary division of the plant or animal kingdom, a genetically related tribe or race of organisms,” 1868, Modern Latin, coined by French naturalist Georges Léopole Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert, Baron Cuvier (1769-1832) from Greek phylon “race, stock,” related to phylē “tribe, clan” (see phylo-).

The definition of a phylum is a major category of living organisms, or a group of genetically related language families. An example of a phylum is Mollusca which means an invertebrate animal such as an octopus. … Mammals belong to the phylum Chordata.

At its most basic, a phylum can be defined in two ways: as a group of organisms with a certain degree of morphological or developmental similarity (the phenetic definition), or a group of organisms with a certain degree of evolutionary relatedness (the phylogenetic definition).

Phylum Chordata is an example of a phylum.

There is no difference of meaning between phyla and phylum. Phylum is used as singular and phyla is plural.

There are 36 recognized animal phyla, of which but nine (Mollusca, Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, and Chordata) contain the vast majority of described, extant species.

Phylum is at a higher rank than class. … The probability of describing a new phylum is lower than class. • Phylum is ranked between kingdom and class, whereas class is ranked between phylum and order.

Phylum Arthropoda (Approximately 750,000 Known Species):

This phylum is the largest of the animal phyla and includes nearly three-fourths of all the known species of animals.

Both phylum and division occur below kingdom and above class. The main difference between phylum and division is that phylum is a classification level of the animal kingdom whereas division is the alternative classification level to the phylum in the kingdom Plantae and Fungi.

Although the name Chordata is attributed to William Bateson (1885), it was already in prevalent use by 1880. Ernst Haeckel described a taxon comprising tunicates, cephalochordates, and vertebrates in 1866.

(i)Phylum It is a taxonomic category higher than class and lower than kingdom, which consists of more than one class having some similar correlated-characters. For example, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals belong to the phylum-Chordata.

As members of the phylum Chordata, fish share certain features with other vertebrates. These features are gill slits at some point in the life cycle, a notochord, or skeletal supporting rod, a dorsal hollow nerve cord, and a tail.

Phylum Chordata constitutes all animals which show the presence of a notochord and dorsal hollow neural system. Fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles and mammals show the presence of these two characters. Hence, despite the number of differing features, they are included in phylum Chordata.