A group of animals which are related by descent and share many similarities are referred to as

1. breed

2. race

3. variety

4. species

A group of animals that are related by descent and are similar in most characters like general appearance, features, size, configuration, etc., are said to belong to a breed. The other three options are incorrect because race is a classification system used to categorize humans into large and distinct populations or groups based on anatomical, cultural, ethnic or geographical differences While a variety is a genetically and morphologically distinct subset of a species that is geographically isolated from other populations within that species. A species is defined as a group of individuals that potentially interboreed in nature.

Page 167, XII NCERT