Domain ( biology ) - wikipedia Domain ( biology ) For other uses, see Domain ( disambiguation ). The three - domain system is made up of Eukaryota ( represented by the Australian green tree frog, left ), Bacteria ( represented by Staphylococcus aureus, middle ) and Archaea ( represented by Sulfolobus, right ). The hierarchy of biological classification 's eight major taxonomic ranks. Life is divided into domains, which are subdivided into further groups. Intermediate minor rankings are not shown. In biological taxonomy, a domain ( Latin : regio ), also superkingdom or empire, is the highest taxonomic rank of organisms in the three - domain system of taxonomy designed by Carl Woese, an American microbiologist and biophysicist. According to the Woese system, introduced in 1990, the tree of life consists of three domains : Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya. The first two are all prokaryotic microorganisms, or single - celled organisms whose cells have no nucleus. All life that has a nucleus and membrane - bound organelles, and multicellular organisms, is included in the Eukarya. Stefan Luketa in 2012 proposed a five `` dominion '' system, adding two more to the above. Contents 1 Domain or dominion 2 Characteristics of the three domains of life 2.1 Archaea 2.2 Bacteria 2.3 Eukarya 3 Exclusion of viruses 4 Alternative classifications 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Domain or dominion The term `` domain '' is proposed by Woese et al. ( 1990 ) in his three - domain system. This term represents a synonym for the category of dominion ( lat. dominium ), introduced by Moore in 1974. However, only Stefan Luketa uses the term `` dominion ''. He placed Prion and Virus under two `` dominions '' separately. Characteristics of the three domains of life A speculatively rooted tree for RNA genes, showing major branches Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryota The three - domains tree and the Eocyte hypothesis ( Two domains tree ), 2008. Phylogenetic tree showing the relationship between the eukaryotes and other forms of life, 2006 Eukaryotes are colored red, archaea green and bacteria blue. Each of these three domains of life recognized by biologists today contain unique rRNA. This fact in itself forms the basis of the three - domain system. While the presence of a nuclear membrane differentiates the Eukarya domain from the Archaea and Bacteria domains, both of which lack a nuclear membrane, distinct biochemical and RNA markers differentiate the Archaea and Bacteria domains from each other. Archaea Further information : Archaea Archaea are prokaryotic cells, typically characterized by membrane lipids that are branched hydrocarbon chains attached to glycerol by ether linkages. The presence of these ether linkages in Archaea adds to their ability to withstand extreme temperatures and highly acidic conditions, but many archea live in mild environments. Halophiles, organisms that thrive in highly salty environments, and hyperthermophiles, organisms that thrive in extremely hot environments, are examples of Archaea. Archaea evolved many cell sizes, but all are relatively small. Their size ranges from 0.1 μm to 15 μm diameter and up to 200 μm long. They are about the size of bacteria or similar to the size of a mitochondrion in a eukaryotic cell. Members of the genus Thermoplasma are the smallest of the archaea. Bacteria Further information : Bacteria Even though bacteria are prokaryotic cells just like Archaea, their membranes are made of unbranched fatty acid chains attached to glycerol by ester linkages. Cyanobacteria and mycoplasmas are two examples of bacteria. They characteristically do not have ether linkages like Archaea, and they are grouped into a different category -- and hence a different domain. There is a great deal of diversity in this domain, and between that and horizontal gene transfer, it is next to impossible to determine how many species of bacteria exist on the planet. Eukarya Further information : Eukaryote Members of the domain Eukarya -- called eukaryotes -- have membrane - bound organelles ( including a nucleus containing genetic material ) and are represented by four kingdoms : Plantae, Protista, Animalia, and Fungi. Exclusion of viruses Main article : Virus None of the three systems currently include non-cellular life. As of 2011 there is talk about Nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses possibly being a fourth branch domain of life, a view supported by researchers in 2012. Stefan Luketa in 2012 proposed a five - domain system, adding Prionobiota ( acellular and without nucleic acid ) and Virusobiota ( acellular but with nucleic acid ) to the traditional three domains. Alternative classifications Alternative classifications of life so far proposed include : The two - empire system or superdomain system, with top - level groupings of Prokaryota ( or Monera ) and Eukaryota. The eocyte hypothesis, first proposed by James A. Lake et al. in 1984, which posits two domains ( Bacteria and Archaea, with Eukaryota included in Archaea ). See also Biological dark matter Human timeline Life timeline Nature timeline Neomura, which is the two domains of life of Archaea and Eukaryota Phylogenetics Protein structure Systematics Three - domain system References ^ Jump up to : Woese C, Kandler O, Wheelis M ( 1990 ). `` Towards a natural system of organisms : proposal for the domains Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya ''. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 87 ( 12 ) : 4576 -- 9. Bibcode : 1990PNAS... 87.4576 W. doi : 10.1073 / pnas. 87.12. 4576. PMC 54159. PMID 2112744. Retrieved 11 February 2010. Jump up ^ `` The Scientific Taxonomy and Classification of all Creatures ''. Retrieved 19 October 2015. ^ Jump up to : Luketa S. ( 2012 ). `` New views on the megaclassification of life '' ( PDF ). Protistology. 7 ( 4 ) : 218 -- 237. Jump up ^ Moore R.T. ( 1974 ). `` Proposal for the recognition of super ranks '' ( PDF ). Taxon. 23 ( 4 ) : 650 -- 652. doi : 10.2307 / 1218807. Jump up ^ ( ( cite journal author1 = Cox, C.J. author2 = Foster, P.G. author3 = Hirt, R.P. author4 = Harris, S.R. author5 = Embley, T.M. year = 2008 title = The archaebacterial origin of eukaryotes journal = Proc Natl Acad Sci USA volume = 105 issue = 51 pages = 20356 -- 61 doi = 10.1073 / pnas. 0810647105 pmid = 19073919 pmc = 2629343 bibcode = 2008PNAS... 10520356C ) ) Jump up ^ Ciccarelli FD, Doerks T, von Mering C, Creevey CJ, Snel B, Bork P ( 2006 ). `` Toward automatic reconstruction of a highly resolved tree of life '' ( PDF ). Science. 311 ( 5765 ) : 1283 -- 7. Bibcode : 2006Sci... 311.1283 C. doi : 10.1126 / science. 1123061. PMID 16513982. Jump up ^ Nasir, A ; Kim, KM ; Caetano - Anolles, G ( 2012 ). `` Giant viruses coexisted with the cellular ancestors and represent a distinct supergroup along with superkingdoms Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya ''. BMC Evol. Biol. 12 : 156. doi : 10.1186 / 1471 - 2148 - 12 - 156. PMC 3570343. PMID 22920653. Jump up ^ Mayr, Ernst ( 1998 ). `` Two empires or three ? ''. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 95 ( 17 ) : 9720 -- 9723. Bibcode : 1998PNAS... 95.9720 M. doi : 10.1073 / pnas. 95.17. 9720. PMC 33883. PMID 9707542. Retrieved 5 September 2011. Jump up ^ Cavalier - Smith, T. ( 2004 ). `` Only six kingdoms of life '' ( PDF ). Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. 271 ( 1545 ) : 1251 -- 62. doi : 10.1098 / rspb. 2004.2705. PMC 1691724. PMID 15306349. Retrieved 2010 - 04 - 29 Jump up ^ Archibald, John M. ( 23 December 2008 ). `` The eocyte hypothesis and the origin of eukaryotic cells ''. PNAS. 105 ( 51 ) : 20049 -- 20050. doi : 10.1073 / pnas. 0811118106. Jump up ^ Lake, James A. ; Henderson, Eric ; Oakes, Melanie ; Clark, Michael W. ( June 1984 ). `` Eocytes : A new ribosome structure indicates a kingdom with a close relationship to eukaryotes ''. PNAS. 81 ( 12 ) : 3786 -- 3790. doi : 10.1073 / pnas. 81.12. 3786. PMC 345305. PMID 6587394. Jump up ^ Williams, Tom A. ; Foster, Peter G. ; Cox, Cymon J. ; Embley, T. Martin ( December 2013 ). `` An archaeal origin of eukaryotes supports only two primary domains of life ''. Nature. 504 ( 7479 ) : 231 -- 236. doi : 10.1038 / nature12779. PMID 24336283. External links Learn Biology : Classification - Domains on YouTube Taxonomic ranks Domain / Superkingdom Kingdom Subkingdom Infrakingdom / Branch Superphylum / Superdivision Phylum / Division Subphylum Infraphylum Microphylum Superclass Class Subclass Infraclass Parvclass Legion Cohort Magnorder Superorder Order Suborder Infraorder Parvorder Section ( zoo. ) Superfamily Family Subfamily Supertribe Tribe Subtribe Genus Subgenus Section ( bot. ) Series ( bot. ) Species Subspecies Variety Form Biology portal Evolutionary biology portal Science portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Domain_(biology)&oldid=816166384 '' Categories : Domains ( biology ) Hidden categories : Articles with inconsistent citation formats Use dmy dates from April 2016 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikispecies Afrikaans Alemannisch Aragonés অসমীয়া বাংলা Башҡортса Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ भोजपुरी Български Boarisch Bosanski Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Dolnoserbski Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Frysk Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Hornjoserbsce Hrvatski Ilokano Bahasa Indonesia Interlingua Íslenska Italiano עברית Kapampangan Latina Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Magyar Македонски Malti Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Napulitano Norsk Norsk nynorsk ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Piemontèis Polski Português Română Русиньскый Русский Scots Sicilianu Simple English کوردی Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Svenska Tagalog தமிழ் Татарча / tatarça ไทย Türkçe Українська اردو Vèneto Tiếng Việt West - Vlams Winaray 粵語 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 19 December 2017, at 18 : 29. 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Question: which domain of life are humans members of
Answer: Eukarya; Eukarya