This is a field of study that allows biologists to reconstruct a pattern of evolutionary events resulting in the distribution and diversity of present-day life. Achieving this goal requires classifying organisms into groups in a meaningful and universal manner. This classification is based on evolutionary events that occurred long before human civilization appeared on Earth. Taxonomy is the system used to name organisms based on their evolutionary relationships. A taxon is a hierarchical category used in the naming process, and taxa is the plural form of the word. The main taxa, in order of broadest to most specific designation, are: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. For example, a domestic cat's kingdom is Animalia because it is an animal, its class is Mammalia because it is a mammal, and its genus and species are Felis domesticus. Phylogenetics refers to the study of an organism's...