Panteriore, Irish May
Petalino,
Geraldine Joy
Cacho,
Francia May
Verzo,
Kim Vyron
Resurreccion,
Danica
ProfEd
7b
MW
10:00-11:30
Classification of Animals
Classification of Animals
In order for us to
understand how all living organisms are
related, they are arranged into different groups. The more features that a
group of animals share,
the more specific the group is. Animals are
given scientific names so that people all around the world can communicate
about animals,
no matter what language they speak (these names are traditionally Latin words). Animals belong
to a number of different groups, starting with the animal kingdom.
Kingdom
All living organisms are
first placed into different kingdoms. There are five different kingdoms to
classify life on Earth, which are Animals,
Plants, Fungi, Bacteria, and Protists (single-celled organisms).
Phylum
The animal kingdom
is divided into 40 smaller groups, known as phylum. Here,animals are
grouped by their main features. Animals usually
fall into one of five different phylum which are Cnidaria (invertebrates),
Chordata (vertebrates), Arthropods, Molluscs and Echinoderms.
Class
The phylum group is then divided into even
smaller groups, known as classes. The Chordata (vertebrates) phylum splits up
into Mammalia (Mammals), Actinopterygii (Bony Fish), Chondrichthyes
(Cartilaginous Fish) , Aves (Birds), Amphibia (Amphibians) and Reptilia
(Reptiles).
Order
Each class is divided into small groups again,
known as orders. The class Mammalia (Mammals), splits into different groups
including Carnivora, Primate, Artiodactyla and Rodentia.Family
In every order, there are different families of animals which
all have very similar features. The Carnivora order breaks into families that
include Felidae (Cats), Canidae (Dogs), Ursidae (Bears), and Mustelidae
(Weasels).
Genus
Every animal family
is then divided into small groups known as genus. Each genus contains animals that
have very similar features and are closely related. For example, the Felidae
(Cat) family contains genus including Felis (small Cats and domestic Cats),
Panthera (Tigers, Leopards, Jaguars and Lions) and Puma (Panthers and Cougars).
Species
Each individual species within the genus is
named after it's individual features and characteristics. The names of animals are
in Latin so that they can be understood worldwide, and consist of two words.
The first word in the name of an animal will
be the genus, and the second name indicates the specific species.
Classifying
Animals According to the Food They Eat
Animals
need food to survive. There are 4 classification of animals according to what
they it. These are the following:
1.
Herbivores- Animals that only eat plant.
A
herbivore is an animal that gets its energy from eating plants, and only
plants. Many herbivores have special digestive systems that let them
digest all kinds of plants, including grasses.
2.
Carnivores - Animals eat only other animals.
 A carnivore meaning
‘meat eater’ (Latin, carne meaning ‘flesh’ and vorare meaning
‘to devour’) is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient
requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue,
whether through predation orscavenging. Animals that depend
solely on animal flesh for their nutrient requirements are considered obligate carnivores
while those that also consume non-animal food are considered facultative carnivores. A
carnivore that sits at the top of the foodchain is an apex
predator.
3.
Omnivores- Animals that eat both plants and animals.
 An Omnivore,
meaning ‘all-eater’ (Latin omni, vorare: “all,
everything”, “to devour”), is a polyphage (“many foods“)
species that is a consumer of a variety of material as
significant food sources in their natural diet. These foods may
include plants, animals, algae and fungi.
Omnivores
often are opportunistic, general feeders with neither carnivore nor herbivore specializations
for acquiring or processing food, and are capable of consuming and do consume
both animal protein and vegetation. Many omnivores depend on a suitable
mix of animal and plant food for long-term good health and reproduction.
Omnivores
eat plants, but not all kinds of plants. Unlike herbivores, omnivores
can’t digest some of the substances in grains or other plants that do not
produce fruit. They can eat fruits and vegetables, though. Some of the insect
omnivores in this simulation are pollinators, which are very important
to the life cycle of some kinds of plants.
4.
Detrivores or Scavengers- Animals that eat the remains of died animal.
  Detritivores, also known as detritophages, detritus
feeders, detritus eaters, or saprophages, are
heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant
and animal parts as well as feces).There are many kinds of invertebrates,
vertebrates and plants that carry out coprophagy. By doing so all these
detritivores, contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles. They should
be distinguished from other decomposers, such as many species of bacteria,
fungi and protists, which are unable to ingest discrete lumps of matter, but
instead live by absorbing and metabolizing on a molecular scale (saprotrophic
nutrition). However, the terms detritivore and decomposer are
often used interchangeably. Various word roots relating to decayed matter (detritus, sapro-),
eating and nutrition (-vore, -phage), and plants or life
forms (-phyte, -obe) produce various terms, such as
detritivore, detritophage, saprotroph, saprophyte, saprophage, and saprobe;
their meanings overlap, although technical distinctions (based on physiologic
mechanisms) narrow the senses. S |
