Define a taxon. What is meant by taxonomic hierarchy? Give a flow diagram from the lowest to highest category for a plant and an animal. What happens to the number of individuals and number of shared characters as we go up the taxonomical hierarchy?

Taxon refers to any levels of grouping of organisms.

It may represent any rank in the classification.

Species � Genus � Family � Order � Class � Phylum/Division � Kingdom

Phylum in animals and division in plants.

As we go up in the hierarchy, the number of related characters decreases.