The second highest level of taxonomic classification of organisms (below domains). Classification schemes at the kingdom level have changed over time. Recent molecular data have generally reinforced the evolutionary significance of the kingdoms Animalia, Plantae, and Fungi. The single-celled eukaryotes once lumped into the kingdom Protista are now known to be very diverse, and not closely related to one another. The prokaryotic organisms once lumped into the kingdom Monera are now considered to belong to separate domains: Eubacteria and Archaea. See taxon.