Which level of classification groups organisms based on very general features?

The kingdom level of classification is the broadest category used to group organisms based on very general features. It serves as one of the most fundamental taxonomic ranks in biological classification, encompassing a wide range of life forms that may share only a few general characteristics. For example, all organisms in the kingdom Animalia are multicellular, eukaryotic, and heterotrophic, which are broad features that apply to a vast array of organisms within this category.

In the biological hierarchy, other levels such as species, genus, and clade offer increasingly specific classifications that distinguish organisms based on more detailed traits. Species is the most specific, referring to a single type of organism capable of interbreeding, while genus groups closely related species. A clade refers to a group of organisms that includes an ancestral species and all its descendants, which can also involve specific evolutionary traits. Thus, it is the kingdom that groups organisms based on the most general and overarching characteristics.