Plant and Animal Classification

Which of the following characteristics is used when determining whether to place an animal in the vertebrate group or the invertebrate group?

• Ability to walk on two legs

• Presence of a spinal cord

• Method of respiration (lungs or gills)

• Flow of blood through the body

What questions can be used to identify fish from amphibians, such as an adult frog?

• Does the organism use gills to breathe?

• Does the organism eat insects?

• Is the organism able to move around?

• Does the organism lay eggs?

Which of the following questions could we ask to distinguish a mammal, such as a spider monkey, from a reptile, such as a crocodile?

• Does the animal have four limbs?

• Does the animal lay eggs to reproduce?

• Does the animal consume food for energy?

• Does the animal have a backbone?

An organism with a backbone

• Amphibian

• Vertebrate

• Mammal

• Fish

A cold-blooded vertebrate with fins and gills that lives in water.

• Amphibian

• Vertebrate

• Mammal

• Fish

Any of various cold-blooded, usually smooth-skinned vertebrates, characteristically hatching as an aquatic larva with gills and then transforming into an adult having air-breathing lungs.

• Amphibian

• Vertebrate

• Mammal

• Fish

Any of various warm-blooded vertebrate animals, including humans, characterized by a covering of hair on the skin and, in the female, milk-producing mammary glands for nourishing the young.

• Amphibian

• Vertebrate

• Mammal

• Fish

Clara made a list of organisms and classified then into two groups. What would be the best titles for these groups?

Group 1: fish, amphibian, reptile

Group 2: mollusks, arthropods

• Vertebrates and invertebrates

• Seed producers and vertebrates

• Seed producers and invertebrates

• Vertebrates and non-seed producers

Which of the following contains the largest group of organisms?

• Vertebrates

• Invertebrates

True or False:

All vertebrates lay eggs to hatch their young.

• True

• False