Why are we more closely related to fungi than plants?

All living things on Earth are related. To help keep track of how close those relationships are, scientists organize life on Earth into groups using a system called taxonomy. Sometimes, taxonomy can be surprising – like, did you know that humans are more closely related to mushrooms and other fungi than we are to plants? How does that work? We asked microbiologist Christine Salomon to help us find the answer. Got a question that’s in a class by itself? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll find an answer that’ll really grow on you. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.