What are Classes, Orders, Sub Families, etc.?

Terms such as phylum, order, suborder, family, genus, and species are sometimes used to identify different types of organisms, including ants. Of these terms, species is the most specific while phylum is the most inclusive. The terms are an internationally shared system of placing certain animals within certain groups. Species are grouped into genera, genera are grouped within families, and families are grouped into orders. Orders are then grouped into classes and classes are grouped into phylum. While these terms were historically used to identify different types of organisms, paleontologists today prefer to only use the term species and have largely stopped using the other terms.