From Grolier’s Interactive Encyclopedia

THE

VERTEBRATE

ANIMALS

COLD BLOODED:

Those animals who have body temperatures that change with the temperature around them.

THE FISH1. Fish possess gills to allow them to acquire oxygen from the water.

2. Fish all possess fins (fanlike structures) for steering, balancing and moving. The strongest force comes from the tail (caudal) fin.

3. Fish have scales for protection.

Fish are divided into three classes:

Jawless - These fish have round mouths and tube like bodies. Included are the lamprey and hagfish.

Fish are divided into three classes:

Cartilagenous: Those fish that do not have true bones, but skeletons made of cartilage. These include the sharks, skates, and rays.

Fish are divided into three classes:

Bony Fish- Those that have skeletons made of true bone. More than 95 percent of all fish are bony fish.

AMPHIBIANS1. Cold blooded animals that spend part of the their lives in water and part on land.

2. They have smooth moist skin with no scales. They can breathe through this skin.

3. Groups include frogs & toads and salamanders & newts.

4. Most lay uncovered eggs in water.

DART FROGS

GREEN

FROG

LEOPARD

FROG

AMERICAN

TOAD

MIDWIFE TOAD

AXOLOTL

RED SPOTTED NEWT

RED LINED SALAMANDER

MUD

PUPPY

Reptiles1. Cold blooded animals with thick dry scaly skin.

2. Lay covered eggs(usually on land) with leather-like coverings.

3. Can not breathe when completely submerged in water.

4. Groups include turtles, crocodiles and alligators, lizards, and snakes.

PAINTED TURTLE

SNAPPING TURTLE

RIDLEY’S SEA TURTLE

WARM BLOODED:

Those animals who have body temperatures that remain constant and do not change with outside temperature.

Birds1. Birds have bodies covered in feathers.

2. They lay eggs covered in a hard shell. Most are incubated by the parents.

3. The front legs of birds are modified as wings.

4. Most birds can fly.

BIRD HATCHING FROM EGG

Mammals1. Mammals have hair as a covering.

2. Mammals produce milk for their young.

3. Most mammals give birth to well developed offspring that spent a period of time in the mothers uterus.

4. Mammals are classified as placental, monotremes, and marsupials.

PLACENTAL MAMMALS

Offspring develop in the mother’s body in an organ

called a uterus. The placenta is attached to the offspring by an umbilical

cord.

MONOTREMES

Mammals that lay eggs with leathery shells.

MARSUPIALS

Pouched mammals that give birth to tiny undeveloped

offspring. The young develop in a pouch outside

the body.