Order
Order
The term order is one of the seven major classification groups that biologists use to identify and categorize living things. These seven groups are hierarchical or range in order of size. Order is at the exact middle of the seven groups, located between class and family. The classification scheme for all living things is: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.
Organisms in the same order are much closer to each other, genetically and on the evolutionary scale, than are those in the larger group called class. For example, although all animals in the class Mammalia produce milk for their young, those in the order Carnivora eat meat, while others in the order Insectivora eat insects. A house pet like a dog (Carnivora) is distinguished by its eating habits and preferences from a mole (Insectivora), although both are in the same class.
The order names of plant groups generally use the suffix -ales (e.g., Rosales), while the order names of animals usually end with an -a (e.g., Carnivora). In practical terms and in most scientific discussions, the order of an organism is seldom considered. Rather, the more specific terms of family, genus, and species are used.
[See alsoClass; Classification; Family; Genus; Kingdom; Phylum; Species ]