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Five Kingdoms of Nature

The concept of the 5 Kingdoms of Nature is inspired by the work of Prof. Dr. Lynn Margulis in her milestone reference work "The 5 Kingdoms of Nature."

The name kingdom is scientifically very much accepted, though some prefer to talk about domains as to make this more gender neutral. ZERI has maintained the kingdom reference, since it speaks to the imagination of the children.

	Bacteria This symbol shows bacteria, or monera for the scientists. It are many creatures living intensively together taking care of all possible niches. All bacterial are characterized by the lack of a nucleus.
	Algae The protoctista, as the scientists like to call this domain, is a mix of slime moulds and algae. We have over-simplified this and call these species algae, knowing that scientifically it is not 100% correct. These are the first ones to have a nucleus.
	Fungi The fungi include moulds and mushrooms and have a rich biodiversity that is largely unknown. We do not even know in about 95% of the cases how to distinguish a male from a female.
	Plants Plants are the most recent arrival on Earth. There are millions unknown, but their beauty has inspired poetry and they know how to procreate in cooperation with animals.
	Animals Animals, yes the largest number of species are the worms. We are most likely descendents of worms, and not of the chimpanzee. It is not a pleasant thought, but it is a recent discovery. Actually, if we have to believe the scientific hypotheses of Lynn Margulis, then we are descendents of bacteria, or better stated, descendents of symbiosis of bacteria! After all about 10% of our body weight are still bacteria.