Animals with backbones
This phylum of animals is the Chordata. They are often called the vertebrates. Unlike worms,
spiders and insects, which we call invertebrates, the vertebrates have a backbone.
There are five groups (classes):
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Fish
Reptiles
Amphibians
Birds
Mammals
Fish
These live in water and are usually streamlined in shape. Their bodies are covered in scales and
they have fins to help them move. They usually lay eggs and they get their oxygen from the water
through their gills. Some fish have soft bones called cartilage, for example the sharks. Cod and
herring have hard bones.
Amphibians
Some of these also live in water but most have to live in moist areas. This is because they get a
lot of their oxygen through their skin, not just through their lungs. The young hatch fom eggs in
the water and they have gills. Frogs and toads are very similar. Newts have tails.
Reptiles
Instead of moist skins the reptiles have dry, scaly skins. Most of them lay eggs, but not in the
water. They use their lungs to get oxygen from the air. Tortoises live on land, but many turtles
need to live in water. Crocodiles also like to live in water but can move fast on land. An adder is
an example of a UK reptile.
Birds
These have feathers instead of scales, except on their legs and feet. All birds have wings but not
all can fly. The kiwi and the emu can't fly, and neither can the penguin, but it can move fast in
water. Ducks float on the water.
Mammals
These are all animals that suckle their young (feed them milk from the mother's mammary
glands). All mammals have hair or fur on their bodies. Cows have been bred by farmers to
produce too much milk for their calves so that we can drink the excess.
Questions
Answer these questions in your books after you have read the sheet on vertebrates.
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What does 'suckle' mean?
Give one difference between the skin of a reptile and the skin of an amphibian.
Which other group has scales?
Which groups lay eggs? Where do they lay them?
Give an example of an invertebrate. What does this mean?
What do all vertebrates have in common?
Name two characteristics that all mammals have in common.
What is one main difference between a shark and a herring?
Name two reptiles that live in water.
To which group do dolphins and whales belong?