General Characteristics an Types of Kingdom Animalia

Invertebrate animals

We see different animals in our environment. Some live inside other animals, others are found in fresh or marine waters and some in every habitat on land. Animals reproduce either sexually or asexually. Animals are eukaryotic and multi-cellular groups. Their cells have no cell walls, but they have cells involved in movement through their body. We all know that animals are subdivided into two groups; these are the invertebrates and vertebrates. Invertebrates are animals without backbone while vertebrates are animals with backbone.

Sponges

• The simplest animals that belong to Phylum Porifera
• Live in shallow and deep oceans
• Young sponges are motile while adult are attached to solid materials
• The body was covered and surrounded by a “skeleton” called spicules, made of either glasslike silica or calcium carbonate.
• Used for bathing and washing

Cnidarians

• Belong to Phylum Cnidaria
• Animals whose tentacles contain stinging cells called nematocyst- poison- filled structure used for depends and to capture prey for food, this can be painful and even fatal.
• They are one of great importance as the world’s most productive ecosystems like coral reefs, this is where fishes and other marine organisms breed.

Flatworms

• Belong to Phylum Platyhemintes ( “platys” means flat, “helmins” means worm.)
• Flat and ribbon-like organisms
• Found in freshwater, wet places and marine water

3 Types of Flatworms

Free-living or nonparasitic worms

Ex. Planaria

• Parasitic flukes

Ex. Flukes and tapeworms

• Tapeworm group

Roundworms

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• Belong to Phylum Nematoda
• Have long, cylindrical, and slender bodies
• Some are free-living- important decomposers in the soil in both marine and freshwater
• And some are parasites- found in moist tissues of plants and animals, ex. Trichina worms, hookworms, pinworms and ascaris

Segmented worms

• Belong to Phylum Annelida
• Have a segmented or repeated body parts
• Found in moist soil or in sea and freshwater
• Have nervous, circulatory, digestive and excretory systems
• They aerate the soil and the casting serve as a fertilizers

1. Earthworms- found in moist places like under the rocks or stay buried in the soil
2. Polychaetres- found in rocks and sands
3. Leeches- blood-sucking annelids and they secretean anti-clotting chemical that used as medicine.

Mollusks

• Belong to Phylum Mollusca
• Soft-bodied covered by a shell

Has three parts:

1. A muscular foot for locomotion
2. A mantle produce the cell
3. Visceral mass contains the internal organs

3 classes of Mollusks

1. Gastropods (univalves)

• only one shell
• found in marine with freshwaters and terrestrial members
• use as food like tahong (mussels), talaba (oyster), halaan (clam), scallops and kuhol and use as decorative items. Ex. Sea and land slugs and nudibranchs

Bivalves

• Only two shells
• Found in rocks and sand or mud

Ex. Mussels, oysters and clams

Cephalopods

• Most active mollusks
• Moving very fast arms and tentacles

Ex. Squid and cuttlefish, chambered nautilus and octopus

Echinoderms

• Belong to Phylum Echinodermata
• Found in a marine environment
• Have spines which are extension made of hard calcium

Ex. Star- shaped sea star

• Spine- studded sea urchin, important to coral reefs because they consume algae.
• Sand dollar
• Brittle star
• Sea cucumber ( holothuria edulis) is dried and used as ingredient for chopsuey and soups.
• Sea lily

Arthropods

• Belong to Phylum Antropoda
• Have jointed legs
• Most successful of all animal phyla as they have all types of habitats.

Classes of Arthropods

1. Crustaceans

• Have hard exoskeleton and have mandible to bite and grind food
• Live in water even in the soil
• Use as foods to humans

Ex. Water fleas, crabs, shrimps, lobsters and barnacles

Arachnids

• Have two body sections
• Chelicerae and pedipalps- with four pairs of legs and mouth parts

Ex. Spiders- largest member of arachnids

• Mites and ticks- parasitic arachnids
• Scorpions- poisonous sting
• Horse-hoe crab- oldest living arthropod

Millipedes and Centipedes

• Long, worm-like segmented bodies
• Have a pair of antenna and each segment bear a pair or two legs
• Lives in soil, under rocks or rotting logs and leaves.
• Millipedes- two pairs of legs per segment
• Centipedes- have a pair of legs in a segment

Insects

• Largest group among arthropods
• Have three body sections, three pairs of legs, a pair of atenna and one to two pairs of wings
• Successful animals because they reproduce rapidly

Ex. Dragonflies, grasshoppers, aphids, and butterflies

Chordates

• Belong to Phylum Chordata
• Have four characteristics

1. Notochord- becomes the backbone, ex. Human being
2. Dorsal hollow nerve cord
3. Gill slits
4. Post-anal tail

Ex. Of chordates that do not have backbone:

1. Tunicates- filter feeders, taking in food particles suspended in water
2. Lancelet- suspension feeders

Animal Vertebrates

Fishes

• Cold- blooded animals
• Found in salty, fresh, cold or hot water
• Have scales, pins and gills

1. Jawless fishes- belong to Class Agnatha. Ex, lampreys and hag fish
2. Cartilaginous fishes- have a skeleton, covered with a tough, sandpaper-like skin. Ex, rays, skates and sharks
3. Bony fishes- belong to Class Osteichthye , have a endoskeleton made of hard, calcium called bone. Examples are milkfish, tuna, goldfish, tilapia, globe fish, sea horse, trunkfish, marine and sunfish.

Amphibians

• Animals that live both water and land

3 groups:

1. Caecilians- live in water and moist soil
2. Salamander- live in forest floor under rocks and decaying logs
3. Frogs- can leap and attach to tree trunks, have smooth skin
4. Toads- can survive in hot places or desert, have rough or wartyskin

Reptiles

• Exhibit more adaptations for living on land
• Have smooth and rough scales
• Lay eggs with shells

Ex. Lizards and snakes

1. Crocodiles and alligators
2. Turtles and tortoises

Birds

• Have wings and feathers
• Their bones are light and hollow filled with air
• They lay eggs with shells and legs are covered with scales
• Have bills and beaks

Examples are:

1. Marsh swipe
2. Duck
3. Maya
4. Long- tailed nightjar
5. Philippine eagle

Examples of birds that do not fly:

1. Kiwi
2. Penguin
3. Ostrich

Mammals

• Have mammary glands that produce milk to nourish their young
• Have four- chambered hearts and warm- blooded
• Have hair or fur

Four groups of mammals:

1. Monotrmes

• also called pouched mammals
• their young are kept inside and nourished with the milk

Examples are opossum, koalas, kangaroos, wombats, flying phalangers

2. Eutherians

• Also called placental mammals
• Largest group of mammals
• The young fully develop inside the mothers’ uterus and continue to be cared for
• Order of Eutherians or Placental Mammals

3. Insectivore

• They are insect eating. Examples are shrews, moles

4. Chiroptera - Example is bats

• Rodentia - Examples are rats, mice, and squirrels

• Lagomorpha - Examples are rabbits and hares

• Edentata - Example is armadillos

• Cetacean - Examples are whales and dolphins

• Sirenia - Examples are dugong and manatee

• Proboscides - Example is elephant

• Carnivore - Examples are dogs, cats, bears, seals and walruses

• Ungulate - Examples are horses, zebras, rhinoceros and giraffes, carabaos, goats and pigs

• Primates - Examples are apes, monkeys, lemurs, and humans

Comments

Kenneth C Agudo (author) from Tiwi, Philippines on October 08, 2013:

I am glad PADDYBOY60 you have enjoyed it =)

PADDYBOY60 from Centreville Michigan on October 08, 2013:

Great hub. I really enjoyed it. You put a lot of effort into this. Thanks.

Kenneth C Agudo (author) from Tiwi, Philippines on September 30, 2013:

wow!! thank you so much sheilamyers =)

sheilamyers on September 30, 2013:

Great hub! I think you did a wonderful job listing all of the various classes of animals.