Classification of ANIMALS according to their DISPLACEMENT
Animals have different ways of moving around they need to be able to get food, escape or discover their territory. To move, animals usually adapt their physiology and behavior to the environment they inhabit, since it is not the same to move by means as different as air, water or land and in which they need to adopt forms of displacement different.
Therefore, depending on their movement, there are three large groups of animals, terrestrial, aquatic and aerial. In this lesson from a TEACHER we talk about the classification of animals according to their movement. Join us to find out more!
Index
- How are animal movements classified?
- Movement of aquatic animals
- Displacement of land animals
- Aerial or flying animals
How are animal movements classified?
The environment that each animal inhabits conditions and determines its form of movement. Thus, as with other factors, the skeletal and muscular systems of all animal species that inhabit the planet have been influenced by biological evolution and natural selection, which allows each species to adapt as best as possible to the habitat where it lives.
In this way, the main classification of animals according to their movement It is done according to the half in which they live, these are:
- Aquatic animals
- Land animals
- Aerial or flying animals
Within each of these three general groups there are also different forms of movement, which we will break down below.
Displacement of aquatic animals.
We begin this classification of animals according to their displacement by talking about aquatic animals. And it is that in the aquatic environment, the animals swim around, but they exist different ways of locomotion.
- Amoeboid movement: it is the simplest movement, typical of amoebas (there are also them in aquatic environments). Are protozoa Lacking a membrane, they can contract, deform, swell and emit small tentacles or pseudopods, which shake to move.
- Ciliary or flagellar movement: it is also typical of marine protozoa, which have small extensions called cilia and flagella. Its agitation causes the protozoan to push forward by moving the water.
- Wave movements: is the most common movement. For example, eels or sea snakes move thanks to the undulations of their longitudinal muscles. Fish (in general) move thanks to the fins that serve as the ship's propellers and their tails that serve as rudders, but also thanks to the undulation of their body.
- Movement by jet propulsion: the method used by other animals such as jellyfish, octopus or squid swim by means of a jet of water that they expel at high speed down the back of their bodies and that helps them to propel themselves.
Must be mentioned semi-aquatic animals like beavers, platypuses or otters they also have long strong tails that help them when they enter the water. Even others such as seagulls, ducks or penguins have webbed limbs that help them hunt in the water.
Image: Saving the Environment
Displacement of land animals.
Land animals are what they live in the areas of the mainland, coexisting also with terrestrial plants. In this group there are many variants of displacement:
- Crawling animals: these animals crawl with their whole body on the surface, since they lack limbs. The most representative group of animals of this type of displacement are the reptileslike snakes or snakes.
- Walking animals: Animals that move on foot are the majority of terrestrial animals. In this case they do it on their four limbs called legs, an exceptional case is that of the human being, who only uses the lower limbs. Within this mode of movement are canids, felids, some primates, etc.
- Climbing animals: these animals move by climbing on the branches of trees, for which they have hands and feet prehensile, suction cup-like structures and long tails to wrap around the branches of the trees that serve as habitat. In this group we find mammals like rodents or primates, as well as reptiles or amphibians.
- Jumping animals: animals that move by jumping have strong and agile lower limbs, which they need to propel themselves in the jump. The most representative of this group are the amphibians, but there are also mammals such as the kangaroo, which also has a long tail that provides stability during the jump.
Image: Slideplayer
Aerial or flying animals.
We finish this classification of the animals according to their displacement by talking about the flyers. Depending on the animal group they are in, flying animals They have an anatomical structure that adapts perfectly to the flight.
Thus, birds count on feathers adapted to flight in its upper extremities and an aerodynamic and light anatomy of the rest of the body to stay suspended in the air and, even, hunt while descending at high speed. In addition, their feathered tails serve as a rudder during flight.
In another case, the upper extremities of the chiroptera (bats) have wing-like membranes and bones that allow them to fly when waved. Another group of flying animals is much of the insects.
If you want to read more articles similar to Classification of animals according to their movement, we recommend that you enter our category of biology.
Bibliography
Hickman, C. P. (2009). Comprehensive principles of zoology (14a. ed. --.). Madrid: McGraw-Hill.
