ANIMAL CLASSIFICATION

The Animal Kingdom is divided as shows...

Graph depicting ranks of animal classification in descending order.

Animal Classification full graph.

TERMS TO KNOW...

Domain

All living things

Kingdom

Types of living things (plants or animals or bacteria)

Phylum

Whether animals have backbones (vertebrates or invertebrates)

Class

whether animals are mammals/birds/fish/reptiles/amphibians (for vertebrates only).

BONUS FACT!

Species

Type of animal within the class category. (HINT: Animals that are the same --or similar -- species can have babies together!)

Now that we've discussed animal classifications, here's what to know on each class itself...

TERMS TO KNOW...

mammal puppy sitting mammal bear walking mammal elephant facing forward

MAMMALS

  1. They have hair
  2. They produce milk for their young
  3. They give live birth (not laying eggs)
  4. They have jawbones
  5. They have special earbones
  6. They have diaphragms
bird falcon flying bird penguin sitting bird robin sitting

BIRDS

  1. They have feathers
  2. They have wings
  3. They have a beak
  4. They lay eggs
  5. They have very light skeletons
reptile tortoise standing up reptile alligator reptile snake hissing

REPTILES

  1. They have scales and dry skin
  2. They lay eggs (just like birds!)
  3. They are cold-blooded
  4. They shed their skin and scales
orange fish multicolored fish green fish

FISH

  1. They live in the water
  2. They have gills
  3. They are cold-blooded
  4. They lay eggs (just like birds and reptiles!)
  5. They have scales (just like reptiles)
amphibian green frog amphibian brown toad amphibian blue frog

AMPHIBIANS

  1. They live both in water AND on land
  2. They have moist slimy skin
  3. They have gills(just like fish!)
  4. They are cold-blooded (just like reptiles and fish!)
  5. They lay eggs (just like birds and reptiles and fish!)
invertebrate tarantula invertebrate octopus invertebrate butterfly

INVERTEBRATES

  1. NO BACKBONE
  2. Can have many legs (6 legs or more!)

WHICH SPECIES DOES WHICH?

Birds vs. Fish vs. Reptiles vs. Amphibians
Lays Eggs Cold-Blooded Scales Warm-Blooded
Mammals
Birds
Fish
Reptiles
Amphibians

READY FOR YOUR ASSIGNMENT?