Vertebrate animals: characteristics and classification

Image: Smore

The animal world is very important on our planet, being ourselves part of that world. There are many ways to classify animal species, but the most widely accepted way is to differentiate between vertebrates and invertebrates. To know in depth the part of the animal world to which we belong, today in this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to talk about the characteristics and classification of vertebrate animals.

Vertebrates are all those animals that do not belong to the invertebrates, that is, those who have a spine or vertebral column. Vertebrates are animals with great adaptability, which over the centuries have managed to move from a freshwater habitat to terrestrial and marine habitats.

Vertebrates can vary their features depending on the environment in which they live, but there are a number of common characteristics. Some of these characteristics are the following:

1. Possess bilateral symmetryIn other words, if we split the animal's organism, both parts are totally identical.
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2. The vertebrate brain is protected by the skull.
3. Has a skeleton, which can be bony or cartilaginous, which has an axial part, that is, the vertebral column.
4. The vast majority of vertebrates have their bodies divided into head, trunk and extremities.
5. They may be male or female and they can be both oviparous and viviparous.
6. They can be both warm-blooded and cold-blooded.
7. Your breath can be branchial or pulmonary.
8. Are from larger size than invertebrates.

Image: Animals

To continue with this lesson on the characteristics and classification of vertebrate animals, we must talk about the different classes into which vertebrates are divided.

Mammals

Mammals are the best known class of vertebrates. They are characterized by being warm-blooded, possessing mammary glands thanks to which they can produce milk, and by being viviparous, with the exception of monotremes that are oviparous.

More than 5000 different species of mammals are known, of which 5 belong to the monotremes, 272 to the marsupials and the rest to the placentals. Placentals are those mammals whose young are retained in the mother's uterus to be fed by a placenta. The placentals are the most extensive subclass of mammals, being divided into the following 16 orders:

• Hiracoids: daman.
• Proboscideans: elephant.
• Folidotes: pangolin.
• Toothless: lazy.
• Tubulidentate: Aardvark.
• Dermopters: Flying squirrel.
• Insectivores: shrew.
• Chiroptera: bat.
• Lagomorphs: rabbit.
• Rodents: chipmunk.
• Carnivorous: Tiger.
• Cetaceans: whale.
• Sirenians: dugong.
• Perissodactyls: zebra.
• Artiodactyls: dromedary
• Primates: orangutan.

Birds

The birds are warm-blooded vertebrates whose hind limbs only serve to walk, jump or stay on the ground, while the forelimbs are wings, which allow them to fly. They have a body full of feathers and a toothless beak, and their reproduction is oviparous.

One of the most relevant characteristics of birds is their migration process. Due to the climatic difference of both hemispheres, many birds migrate, although these migrations can also be due to the search for food or the availability of a habitat.

Fishes

Fish are aquatic vertebrates that inhabit the oceans and rivers around the world. They are characterized by being ectothermic, being able to regulate its temperature through the habitat, by its gill respiration, and have a body full of scales and with fins for swimming.

Regarding their classification, we can talk about three groups that make up the fish, which are the following:

• Agnatos: jawless fish, eg lampreys.
• Chondrichthyans: fish with a cartilage skeleton, for example sharks.
• Osteitians: bony fish, for example groupers.

Reptiles

Reptiles are vertebrates characterized by being cold blooded animals, for having a skin full of scales, and for its origin millions of years ago. Reptiles cannot control their body heat, they are oviparous and tend to live in hot climates.

Regarding its classification, we can speak of four orders that group all current reptiles, which are the following:

• Crocodiles: alligators.
• Testudines: turtles.
• Sphenodonts: tuátaras.
• Scaly: snakes.

Amphibians

Amphibians are very special vertebrates, as they are capable of undergoing a transformation during its development, a kind of metamorphosis. Its characteristics include not being able to control its body heat and having gill respiration during its larval phase and pulmonary respiration in its adult phase.

Regarding its classification, we can speak of three orders that group all current amphibians, which are the following:

• Anurans: frogs
• Gymnastics: caecilians.
• Caudates: salamanders.

Image: Woodward Spanish

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