Types Of Animals And Their Examples
Different types of animals include invertebrates such as sponges, flatworms, roundworms, cnidarians (jellyfish, anemones, etc.), mollusks (squid, octopuses, snails, clams, etc.), crustaceans, arachnids and insects; and vertebrates such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds.
On this page is a list of the major animal types, with pictures and facts on each. You’ll learn the differences between these animal groups, and improve your understanding of the entire animal kingdom!
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Types Of Animals
The page is divided into two main sections: types of invertebrates and types of vertebrates. In each section, you’ll meet examples of different types of animals within these larger groups.
If you want information on individual animal species, then check out this page: A To Z Animals With Pictures & Facts, where you’ll find pictures and facts on hundreds of amazing animals.
At the bottom of the page you’ll find important information on the animal kingdom and how scientists group animals into different types.
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Invertebrates are animals without a backbone. The very first animals were invertebrates, and in the hundreds of millions of years since their appearance, invertebrates have diversified into a multitude of different types.
Whereas vertebrates make up a single group of related animals (the subphylum Vertebrata), there are many different types of invertebrates; some of which are more closely-related to vertebrates than they are to other invertebrates!
Looking like bulbous, hollow plants, sponges are among the most basic of all animals. They lack a nervous system and a stomach, and most species are capable of movement only in their juvenile form.
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There are between 6, 000 and 9, 000 known species of sponge. Together, they make up the phylum Porifera. (A phylum is a particular type of animal group; you can find out more about the different types of animal groups further down the page.)
Sponges are filter feeders. Inside a sponge’s body are cells with whip-like projections called flagella. The movement of the flagella causes water to move through the sponge. The sponge feeds on microorganisms contained within the water.
Flatworms make up the the phylum Platyhelminthes. These invertebrate animals range in size from microscopic species to tapeworms that can be up to 25m (82 ft.) in length.
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Flatworms lack a body cavity, and have neither a circulatory nor a respiratory system. They are the simplest animals to exhibit ‘bilateral symmetry’ (i.e. to have bodies that are symmetrical). Flatworms have existed for hundreds of millions of years and were the first carnivorous hunters.
Many living flatworms are parasitic. They make their way into a host organism and feed on its body from the inside. This can be harmful and even deadly to the host animal.
Often the eggs of parasitic flatworms are eaten by a small animal, in whose body the flatworm undergoes the first stage of its development. When the smaller host animal is eaten by a larger animal, the flatworm sets up a permanent home in its new host. It feeds off the host animal and also lays its eggs in the host’s body. These are passed by the host animal and the cycle begins again.
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, have long, cylindrical bodies. While most are microscopic, some can reach lengths of 13m (42.6ft.). Around 3, 500 roundworm species are currently recognized, but some biologists believe that the actual number of species is closer to 40, 000 or more.
Unlike flatworms, who use the same opening both to take in food and to expel waste, roundworms have a more developed digestive system with separate openings for each task.
There are very few ecosystems on Earth in which roundworms are not present. These adaptable animals are found in polar, mountainous, tundra and desert regions and well as underground and on the sea bed.
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There are more individual roundworms than any other type of animal. It is estimated that there are 5 billion roundworms in every acre of fertile garden soil; 60 billion roundworms for each living person; and that roundworms account for 80% of all living animals.
The phylum Cnidaria includes animals such as corals, sea anemones and jellyfish. They have soft bodies with radial symmetry (i.e. they are symmetrical around a central point, with no ‘back’ or ‘front’ side).
Cnidarians such as corals and sea anemones permanently attach themselves to underwater surfaces after a short free-swimming larval stage. Others, such as jellyfish and the Portuguese man o’ war, are free-swimming even in adulthood.
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All cnidarians are carnivores. They are equipped with cells called cnidocytes, which deploy venom via a minute spear-like structure. Cnidocytes are adapted for capturing prey, and for defense against predators. It is these cells that are responsible for a jellyfish’s painful sting.
The phylum Mollusca, whose members are known as mollusks (spelt molluscs in British English), contains both the largest and the most intelligent invertebrates. This group contains animals as diverse as oysters and octopuses.
Bivalves such as oysters and clams, gastropods such as snails and slugs, and cephalopods such as octopuses, squid and cuttlefish are all mollusks.
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All mollusks have a mantle, which is a thick muscular wall that contains respiratory and other organs. In cephalopods, the mantle also functions as a jet, which pushes the animal through the water.
The colossal squid is the largest living mollusk. It reaches an estimated length of around 14 m (46 ft.) and is found in the Southern Ocean.
Octopuses are the most intelligent invertebrates. They have been observed using tools, solving problems and even playing – a behavior associated with intelligence.
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Arthropods are a huge and diverse group of animals. There are over a million known species in the phylum Arthropoda, which contains all insects, crustaceans, arachnids, horseshoe crabs and myriapods (centipedes & millipedes) as well as several other invertebrate groups.
Insects are thought to have appeared during the Silurian Period, between 443.8–419.2 million years ago. (That’s over 200 million years before dinosaurs!)
Today insects are by far the largest single group of animals in terms of number of species. Over 1 million insect species have been described (i.e. named and scientifically accepted as being an individual species).
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There are more than 3 times known insect species than there are known plant species. Insects make up more than half of all known organisms.
Characteristics of all insects include: a hard exoskeleton, a body comprising three parts: head, thorax and abdomen, three pairs of jointed legs, a single pair of antennae and a pair of compound eyes.
The largest group (in terms of number of species) within Insecta is Coleoptera – the beetles. There are over 320, 000 recognized species of beetle.
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– a giant, flightless cricket found in New Zealand – vies with the elephant beetles and Goliath beetles for the title of heaviest adult insect.
With around 67, 000 species, Crustacea is one of the largest arthropod groups. Crustaceans are extremely varied; the group includes crabs, lobsters, shrimps, krill, woodlice and barnacles. Most crustaceans live in water, but some – including woodlice – are found on land.
Typical crustacean characteristics include a segmented body with a hard exoskeleton, two pairs of antennae and a pair of compound eyes, which are often mounted on stalks.
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A characteristic of crustaceans not seen in other arthropods is the presence of ‘biramous limbs’. These are limbs that branch into two. A crustacean’s second pair of antennae may also be biramous.
, which has a body length of 85 micrometers (0.0033 in). This miniature crustacean, which infests other small marine crustaceans, may be the world’s smallest arthropod. (Some mites of class Arachnida are equally as tiny.)
These additional appendages have a number of different uses depending on the species. The pair closest to the mouth are known as chelicerae. These are the arachnid’s ‘jaws’. A spider’s chelicerae are hollow and are used to inject venom.
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The second pair of appendages are known as ‘pedipalps’. A spider’s pedipalps are antennae-like sense organs, and also play a part in reproduction. A scorpion’s pedipalps have adapted into pincers for manipulating prey.
Human beings are vertebrates; if you rub your back you’ll probably be able to feel your backbone. Having a backbone is something we share not only with our closest relatives in the animal kingdom (the apes) but with every bird, reptile, mammal, amphibian and fish.
Unlike invertebrates, vertebrates are part of a recognized biological group: the subphylum Vertebrata. (A subphylum is a subgroup of a phylum; Vertebrata is part of the phylum Chordata.)
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Vertebrates have their own group because every animal with a backbone shares the same ancestor. Fish were the first animals to develop backbones, so in the family tree of
The first fish appeared in the Cambrian Period, around 500 million years ago. They were the first vertebrates, and the ancestors of all other vertebrates. Somewhere way back in your own family tree is a fish!
Note: in biology, the word ‘fish’ applies to a single fish, or a group of the same species of fish. The word ‘fishes’ is used for a group of fish that contains multiple species.
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There are also two other, smaller, fish groups: the hagfish
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