Are Mushrooms More Similar to Humans than Plants?

Until recently, all classifications of life, including the expansion from two kingdoms to five kingdoms, were based on physical observations of how things looked, even under a microscope. This is how the closeness and relationships between species, genera, classes, orders, and kingdoms were decided. Given this, it comes as no surprise that most people have classified fungi as plants for so long. The similarity in appearance is pretty clear; after all, some look like little red and white trees. However, thanks to modern technology, the analysis of genetic relationships between species and organisms is now possible. By examining the genes of different species, both animals and fungi, mutational changes can be observed. As it turns out, animals and fungi share a common ancestor and branch away from plants around 1.1 billion years ago. Only later did animals and fungi separate on the genealogical tree of life, making fungi more closely related to humans than plants!