Classification

Animals are separated into groups or categories so that they are more easily studied and discussed by scientists and others.
Animal Classification:
1. Mammals
2. Aves (Birds)
3. Reptiles
4. Amphibians
5. Fishes

1. Mammals
Characteristics:
• Have teeth
• Have hair
• Warm blooded
• Have single jaw bone
• Have inner ear bones
• Produce milk for their young
2. Aves
Characteristics:
• Have feathers
• Lay eggs
• Have bodies specially adapted for flight
• Have a beak rather than teeth
• Their nearly hollow bones provide light weight strength
• Live almost everywhere on Earth
3. Reptiles
Characteristics:
• Have scales
• Lay leather eggs on land
• Often called cold blooded because they can’t regulate their own body
temperature
• Retiles do not use energy to fuel internal”furnaces”
• Although reptiles breathe through lungs, some reptiles can also absorb
oxygen in water through their mouth.
4. Amphibians
Characteristics:
• Cold blooded vertebrate (backbone)
• Lay their eggs in water
• Young amphibians tend to resemble small fish
• Amphibian means “two live”, a reference to the change that frogs go through
as they move from egg to tadpole to frog.
• Even as adults, most frogs and other amphibians must stay close to water.
5. Fish
Characteristics:
• Cold blooded vertebrate (backbone)
• Live in water
• Usually have paired fins, gills and scales
• Most fish lay large numbers of eggs, but some have live birth
• Most fish breathe by drawing water over four or five pairs of gills.