What are vertebrates?
There are two types of animals; vertebrates and invertebrates. Vertebrates have backbones while invertebrates do not. There are five main groups of vertebrates:
Fish:
There are more than 30,000 species of fish in Earth’s oceans, seas, rivers and lakes.
Amphibian:
Covering frogs, toads and salamanders, this comes from the Greek word amphibious. It means “living a double life”, to reflect living on both land and in water.
Reptile:
This group including crocodiles,
turtles and lizards, evolved from amphibians up to
323 million years ago.
Bird:
Feathers are their most obvious characteristic, distinguishing them from other creatures in the animal kingdom.
Mammal:
Around 5,000 species of mammal can be found roaming our planet.