Poriferans
Also known as sponges, poriferans just barely qualify as animals. Their simplicity is also a testament to their long-lived time on this Earth.
Cnidarians
The worst thing to visit the Jersey shore with a wave of warm waterThe universal solvent essential for life. in late August. Every surfer’s nightmare, jellyfish, hydras, and anemones have stinging cellsThe basic structural and functional units of life. called cnidocytes. They hurt.
Worms
This category is not just for Earthworms. There are hundreds of disgusting and nasty looking sea worms with teeth, parasitic worms wonderfully adapted to their purpose, and other soft-bodied nasties.
Mollusks
Clams, oysters, mussels, and all those things from the sea! If you make a shell, or if you can make a shell but choose not to, you are a mollusk. This category includes the incredibly intelligent cephalopods such as an octopus.
Arthropods
Insects are just the tip of the iceberg with arthropods. So many other horrible things like spiders, ticks, sand fleas, cockroaches (which I think are insects), and wood lice. We live in the Age of Insects, so you should get to know who dominates this Earth right now. It’s not us.
Echinoderms
United by the unique bond of 5-sided symmetry, echinoderms are so named for their tough skinThe body’s largest organ, providing protection and regulation.. Ranging from urchins to starfish, echinoderms are a beautiful evolutionary cul-de-sac.
Chordates
You know them…you love them…it’s the category with the cute and fuzzy bunnies that you can hug and the dolphins you can swim with. Fish, sharks, amphibians, and reptiles (which now includes birds) all join the mammals you can pet in the chordate category of animals, united by 4 characteristics that make a backbone possible.
List of terms
- water
- cells
- skin