Such is the pressure on teaching time in schools and universities that students are taught less and less of the diversity that is life on this planet. Most students, and indeed most professional biologists that these students become, know far more of cell function than of biodiversity. This text is profusely illustrated, quick reference guide to all types of living organism from the single-celled prokaryotes and eurkaryotes to the multicellular fungi, plants and animals. All surviving phyla and their component classes are characterised and described, as are their life-styles, ecology, relationships and within-group diversity (with orders displayed in list form). Overall, the book’s aim is to provide biologists and others with a clear, concise picture of the nature of all groups of organisms with which they may be unfamiliar.