The Five Kingdoms of Life

What kingdom is believed to be the oldest and why?

The kingdom that is believed to be the oldest is the monera kingdom. It is believed to be the oldest because of Archaebacteria or Archae emerged about 3.5 million years ago and are along the oldest forms of life. Archae is included in the group of monera kingdom. The archaebacteria has been on the Earth much longer than the eukaryotics. You can also say that it is the oldest by comparing it to the first of the eukaryotics being only 1800 million years ago and the animals being 600 million years ago.

Cites: http://bacteriamuseum.org/cms/Evolution/eubacteria-and-archaebacteria-the-oldest-forms-of-life.html Contents: Trudy Wassenaar.

The Five Kingdoms of Life

What are the specific differences between the each of the kingdoms?

There are a variety of differences between the 5 types of kingdoms. One of the easiest characteristics to determine between the different kingdoms are what each kingdom contains. Every kingdom has a specific organism for that kingdom. For example, the Monera kingdom contain monerans and the Plantae kingdom contains of coarse plants. Another characteristic that you can find different about each kingdom is whether it contains Eukaryotic or Prokaryotic organisms. Four out of the five kingdoms are eukaryotic while the only one that is Prokaryotic is the kingdom of monera. Since the Monera kingdom is the only kingdom with prokaryotic organisms, they have specific differences that they have than what eukaryotic organisms have. Prokaryotes don't have a nuclei and membrane-bound organelles while the eukaryotes found in the other four kingdoms do.

Cites: The Biology Coloring Workbook

The Five Kingdoms of Life

What are the Five Kingdoms of Life?

1. Monera Kingdom- This kingdom contains 10,000 species of unicellular organisms. These monerans are prokaryotes, which are single-celled organisms which lack certain nuclei and membrane-bound organelles. Many of the organisms in this kingdom are decomposers. 
2. Protista Kingdom- This kingdom contains 250,000 different species of unicellular. All of the protistans in this kingdom are eukaryotic. Also these protistans are either heterotrophic or photosythetic which they contain similar characteristics with plants, protozoa and fungi. Many of the organisms in this kingdom are producers in saltwater and freshwater environments while the others parasitic protistans.  
3. Fungi Kingdom- Contains the molds and yeasts, the organisms are eukaryotic, they are heterotrophic, and usually multicellular. Most of the organisms are decomposers, but some of the organisms are parasites that live with animals and plants.
4. Plantae Kingdom- This kingdom contains all plant life. Plants evolved from protistans, and the organisms are either eukaryotic and multicellular. 
5. Animalia Kingdom- This kingdom is made up of animals. All of the organisms are eukaryotic, multicellular and heterotrophic.

Cites: The Biology Coloring Workbook