What is the scientific study of how living organisms are classified into subgroups based on distinctive characteristics of form, metabolism or reproduction?

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Taxonomy is the scientific study of how living organisms are grouped into categories based on shared features of form, metabolism, and reproduction. It involves naming organisms and arranging them in a hierarchical system (domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species) so we can clearly communicate about life and study its diversity and relationships. In practice, taxonomy uses observable traits like body structure, metabolic processes, and reproductive strategies, and increasingly genetic information, to decide which organisms belong together. Other fields such as ecology (how organisms interact with their environment), anatomy (body structure), and genetics (heredity and variation) study different aspects of living beings, not their classification.