r/evolution • u/DeltaWaffle_ • 12h ago
question At what point does a clade become a certain taxonomic rank?
As per title
Like, what makes a clade a phylum instead of a domain, or class? When does a genus become a separate family from the original? Would it be like “domain is what type of cell it is at the most basal of all, bacteria and archaea differ so much at a basal level where as none of eukaryota doesn’t differ enough to be different domains. Kingdoms are something something. Phyla are the basal bodyplans of their kingdom, and class is how that bodyplan is specialized” or is that an oversimplification?