How are living organisms organized?

There is a taxonomic system based on using simple physical characteristics of organisms to identify and differentiate between different species. Each level (called a taxon) can be subdivided into different groups. There are 8 taxons and, in hierarchical order it goes:

- Domain

- Kingdom

- Phylum

- Class

- Order

- Family

- Genus

- Species

The Domain is therefore the broadest category while the species is the most specific category. There are 3 domains: Archea, Eubacteria, Eukaryote; and 5 Kingdoms; Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protists and Monera.

As an example, this is the classification of humans - in the official Latin.

Domain - Eukaryota

Kingdom - Animalia

Phylum - Chordata

Class - Mammalia

Order - Primates

Family - Hominidae

Genus - Homo

Species - sapiens

Far more info can be found here in the related links section below.