1. Animals With Backbones
AMPHIBIAN
FISH
MAMMAL
BIRD
REPTILE

2. Animals With Backbones
Animals with backbones are called vertebrates.
Vertebrates include many different kinds of animals. They can be found just about everywhere – in oceans, rivers, forests, mountains, and deserts.
Animals with backbones can be broken up into classes by characteristics.
They are:

3. Bird Characteristics All birds are classified in the class aves.
Birds lay hard shelled eggs that hatch in their nest.
There are about 9,000 types of birds.
Birds are vertebrates that have wings and they are covered with feathers. No other animal has this feature.
The bird’s skeleton is very light in weight. This helps them to fly. (Fossil evidence shows that birds may be a modern day relative of a dinosaur – the archaeopteryx. The archaeopteryx live over 160 million years ago, but had wings identical to modern day birds.)
Birds range in size from as small as your finger or as large as a human.
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4. Birds, continued Birds have beaks, but no teeth.
They are very social. One or both parents care for the helpless young.
Types of feathers:
Contour feathers – used for flight
Down feathers – used for warmth
Filoplumes – control movement of the contour feathers

5. Orders of Birds Orders of birds: Perching : tree dwellers
perching foot has 3 toes pointing forward and 1 toe backwards
EX: cardinal, robin, bluebird, and swallows
Non-perching land birds:
feed on seeds and fruit.
prefer to walk rather than fly
EX: doves, pigeons, turkeys, and quail

6. Orders of Birds Water Birds: Swimming birds –
round, broad, straining beaks
webbed feet
migratory
Wading birds –
long-legged
spearing types of beaks
Flightless Birds:
have lost the ability to fly
2 main groups – ostriches and penguins

7. Orders of Birds Birds of Prey: The most powerful group of birds
strong hooked beaks
large feet with strong curving talons
2 toes face forward and 2 toes face backwards
2 groups –
diurnal – hunt by day
nocturnal – hunt by night

8. Reptile Characteristics
Class: Reptilia which means “creepers”
Dinosaurs were giant reptiles and although they are extinct now, 4 of the 16 major groups of these giant reptiles have relatives today:
Snakes and lizards
Turtles and tortoises
Crocodiles and alligators
tuataras
There are over 6,500 species

9. Reptile Characteristics
Bony skeleton
Ectothermic
Thick, dry, waterproof skin
Use lungs to breathe oxygen
Have a 3 or 4 chambered heart, allowing them to
provide more oxygen to their body
Amniotic egg – eggs have a leathery shell and a yolk to
feed the embryo developing inside the egg
Most, except snakes, have two sets of small legs

10. Snakes and Lizards Both: The largest and most varied group of reptiles
Live on every continent except Antarctica
Do not have moveable eyelids or external ears
Have teeth that grow out of their jawbone, similar scales, and smell by flicking tongues
Lizards:
Use tails to wrap around branches and can break them off to escape predators – they grow back.
Snakes:
“hear” by detecting movement in the ground

11. Crocodiles and Alligators
Both:
Sharp teeth
Heavy bodies
Long snouts
Large muscular tails
Crocodiles have a narrow head with a triangular shaped snout. They are more aggressive than alligators. They have been known to attack animals as large as cattle.
Alligators have a rounded snout and are one of the few reptiles that care for their young. Feed on fish, turtles, and water birds.

12. Turtles and Tortoises Move very slowly
The shell is made up of plates of bone connected to the
ribs and backbone
No teeth, but very powerful jaws
Do not protect their young
Turtles live in water and have thin, light shells that help
them swim
Tortoises live entirely on land and have thick, dome
Shaped shells

13. Tuataras – “living fossils”
Oldest and smallest group of reptiles
are the last surviving species of the primitive reptiles of
The past
They live on isolated islands off the coast of New
Zealand
There are strict laws protecting their habitats

14. Amphibian Characteristics
Class: Amphibia which means “double life”
They live part of their life in water and part on land.
Tadpoles have gills and live in water. Adults form lungs and may live on land.
Most go through metamorphosis which means they go through multiple stages of development.
Most have moist skins (not toads) and are sticky to the touch because of a mucus they make.
Must return to water to mate and lay eggs.
Divided into 3 orders based on body structure:
Frogs and toads
Salamanders, sirens, and newts
The odd caecilians

15. Amphibian Characteristics
Like fish, they are bioindicators.
Ectotherms:
in cold weather, they become less active and bury themselves in mud or leaves until it becomes warm (hibernation)
those that live in hot, dry climates hide in the ground when it is too hot (estivation)
They may be adapted for life on land, they MUST have water for their skin and reproduction

16. Frogs and Toads The most abundant amphibians
May live on land, in water, or trees
Live in diverse habitats
Bulging eyes
Nostrils on top of their head
Frogs:
more slender, active, smooth skin, long hind legs,
and fully webbed feet
Toads:
fuller-bodied, less active, prefer land, dry bumpy
skin, shorter legs, and little webbing on feet

17. Salamanders and Newts Long bodies Long tails Two pairs of short legs
Live on land and water
Feed on worms, crustaceans, and insects
Most live in North America
newt
salamander

18. Caecilians (little-known amphibians)
Long-bodied without limbs
Almost tailless
Smallest order of amphibians
Live in tropics and are very common in parts of Africa,
Asia, and Central and South America
Ringed caecilian (Siphonops paulensis)
Ichthyophis glutinosus

19. Fish Characteristics They are the largest group of vertebrates.
Many fish are covered with scales that protects them. Their scales grow with the fish. You can calculate the age of a fish by counting the growth rings that form as the scale expands.
They have fins that help them to steer and balance in the water.
Most fish float with the help of a special feature called a swim bladder.
Their body temperatures vary in the water.
They breathe through gills.
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20. Bioindicators
A bioindicator is an organism whose health reflects the health of the ecosystem. If the water is healthy, then there are plenty of healthy fish. So, if a source of water has lots of ill fish or is lacking fish altogether, that is an indication that there is something wrong with the water.
Fish are a very important animal to man. Many people around the world depend on fish as their primary source of protein.

21. Class Agnatha – jawless fish
Scavengers and parasites.
Oldest and simplest of the vertebrates.
Round sucker shaped mouths and long tube-like bodies covered with slimy, scale-less skin.
Lampreys and hagfish are the only two jawless fish.

22. Class Chondrichthyes – cartilaginous fish
Skeletons made of cartilage
Hinged, moveable jaws with an endless supply of teeth
Covered with tiny scales that feel like sandpaper
Sharks, skates, and rays

23. Class Osteichthyes – Bony fish
The most numerous and varied of all the fish
Skeletons made of bone and cartilage
Have the lateral line system and swim bladder
3 groups:
lungfish, lobe-finned, ray-finned

24. Mammal Characteristics
Have hair on their bodies at some point in their lives. Whiskers count as hair.
Endothermic – warm-blooded
Females produce milk to feed their young
Most mammals give live birth to their offspring.
More complex brain than other animals.
Their teeth and digestive tracts are specialized to suit them depending on what they eat.
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25. Monotremes-Egg laying mammals
Make up the smallest group of mammals
Lay eggs with a leathery shell
Live in Australia
Best known – duck-billed platypus
Spiny ant-eater is the only other
monotreme

26. Marsupials – Pouched mammals
2nd largest group of mammals
Live in Australia or adjoining islands – with one exception….the opossum
Gives birth to a tiny immature offspring that must complete development in its mother’s pouch
EX: Koala bear, kangaroo

27. Placental mammals 95 % of mammals fall into this category
The embryo stays inside the female’s body until it is fully formed
Gestation (the time an embryo takes to develop) can range from 16 days such as hamsters up to 650 days for elephants