What are some examples of vertebrates?

Examples of vertebrates include humans, dogs, cats, birds, snakes, crocodiles, turtles, frogs, lizards and fish.  

Some examples of vertebrates

As you know, there are a large number of vertebrates.   This is going to make studying these animals very hard, isn't it?   It will be easier if you can make even smaller groups.   And this is what biologists have done.

How can we classify vertebrates?

Vertebrates can be divided into five smaller groups.   These vertebrate groups are called classes.   Do you know what they are?   The five classes are fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.  

Use a key to classify the five vertebrates shown previously.

A vertebrate key

Starting at the top of the key, the first question to ask yourself is - does a dog have feathers?   The answer is no, so you go to no feathers .   Then, does a dog have hair or fur?   Yes, a dog has hair .   Therefore, from the key, a dog belongs to the mammal class.

Now you can practise using the vertebrate key to classify the other four vertebrates shown in the previous picture.  

Forest dragon

King parrot

Sardine

Green tree fog

These exercises show your teacher how well you can use a biological key. Go to Exercise

Now you can use your knowledge of classification to play a game.

Lesson 13- Vertebrates

top