10
Living things
The Animal Kingdom: vertebrates
All vertebrate animals have a backbone, but how they breathe, what they eat, and how they reproduce can
be different, even within a group.
How do vertebrates
that live in water
breathe?
R E A D & T H I N K
1
In what ways are:
a)
reptiles and fish similar?
b)
mammals different to other vertebrates?
Respiration
Nutrition
All animals need oxygen to
live. Mammals, reptiles and
birds get oxygen from the air.
They breathe with
lungs
.
Reproduction
All mammals are born directly
from their mother. They
are
viviparous
. All other
groups reproduce by laying
eggs. They are
oviparous
.
Sometimes these eggs are
hard, such as chicken’s eggs
and sometimes they are soft,
such as frog and fish eggs.
Most vertebrate animals are
omnivores
or
carnivores
.
Some mammals and fish and
a few birds are
herbivores
but almost all reptiles and
amphibians only eat other
animals.
Fish use
gills
to get oxygen
from the water. Amphibians
have gills when they are young
and live in water and later
develop lungs to live on land.
Mammals are also different to
other animals because they
produce milk to feed their
babies and look after them for
a longer time.
