The original Linnaeus system evolved to eventually contain the familiar phyla, orders, families and species classifications. It was the basis for our earlier Animal Kingdom poster, which showed only the living species. The Linnaean system is now being replaced by the new cladistics classification system. It has had an enormous impact on the study of prehistoric life and is being taught in all major universities. It has impacted the study of living species primarily through the reorganization of the former phyla into clades. The specific animals assigned to each group are largely unchanged.
... Animal Kingdom 2 presents this new classification system. Six newly established clades / phyla have been added plus eleven containing only extinct species. This increased the number of phyla / clades from 27 to 44.
This new poster groups them into the same nine primary clades that are shown and explained in Animal Development, thus coordinating the two titles. Because of the great abundance of existing literature that uses them, both posters cite the traditional phyla names, rather than the clade names, which are almost identical.
Almost twice as many species are shown on this great new edition. This is an essential reference source for teachers, students and professionals dealing with both living and prehistoric species.
This microscopic freshwater animal was recently discovered living in the frigid springs of West Greenland. Its jaw has 32 moving parts, which is amazing considering its average length is one-tenth of a millimeter, making it one of the smallest animals on Earth. That and other unique body characteristics resulted in it being given its own clade, one of the six new ones recently established.