Natural Science - Vertebrates

Finish the task of copying these definitions in your notebook that we started in class. Read them carefully three times.

VERTEBRATES

1. Amphibians are cold-blooded vertebrate animals (as frogs and toads) that have gills and live in water as larvae but breathe air as adults.

2. Reptiles are cold-blooded animals (as a snake, lizard, turtle, or alligator) that breathes air and usually has the skin covered with scales.

3. Fish are cold-blooded animals that live in water and have fins for swimming and gills for breathing. Most fish have scales on their skin. There are many kinds of fish, including salmon, goldfish, tuna, and sharks.

4. Birds are warm-blooded, egg-laying animals but they are different from mammals because they lay hard-shelled eggs and have feathers. A bird has four limbs—two that are wings—along with a beak and no teeth.

5. Mammals are warm-blooded animals that breathe air and grows hair or fur. In addition, all female have mammary glands that can produce milk. Mammals include a wide variety of animals, from cats to humans to whales. There are more than 5,000 species, or kinds, of living mammal.