Vertebrate are classified as:
1-Fish 2-Amphibians 3-Mammals 4-Reptiles 5-Birds
Can you name some animals? Write down a list of as many animals as you can. If you look over this list, probably all of the animals that you have named have bones, with a series of large bones in their backs that helps them to move (run, climb, fly, swim). This is called their backbone or vertebral column. All animals with a backbone are called vertebrates. Do you have a backbone? Then you are a vertebrate, too! Vertebrates make up most of the "animals" that we are familiar with. Exceptions to this would be things like an insect, an octopus, a lobster or crab, a jellyfish, or a clam. Most everything else is a vertebrate, with a backbone and other bones.
Vertebrates can be classified into five groups, based on their skin covering, how they reproduce, how they maintain body temperature, and characteristics of their limbs (arms and legs, or their equivalent such as wings or fins). Knowing the five classes of vertebrates and their characteristics helps you to understand more about these animals.
The five classes of vertebrates are listed below.
You probably know all of the characteristics that are in bold. If you know this much, you know enough to classify any animal you see! Learn these characteristics if you don't already know them. Just think of your favorite example and the characteristics become very easy to remember. The other information gives you more characteristics that scientists use to classify animals into their respective class.
Fish
Coho Salmon
1. Fish are ectothermic, aquatic vertebrates.
2. Their skin is generally covered with scales.
3. Their limbs are modified into fins for swimming.
4. They breathe with gills.
5. They lay eggs that must be in water.
You probably knew most of this already, didn't you? The term "ectothermic" may be new to you. It means "external temperature" in Latin. The simpler term is "cold-blooded", that is, it has a body temperature equal to the surrounding environment. You know that fish are cold-blooded if you ever picked one up: they are as cold as the water they were swimming in. Even if you go swimming and are shivering with cold, you are always warmer than the water. "Aquatic" means that they spend their lives in the water.