What is an animal?<\/p>\n
Animals are living things. The things that distinguish an animal from other living things (such as plants, fungi and so on) are as follows :<\/p>\n
Unlike bacteria, the body of an animal is usually made of many cells.
\nUnlike plants, an animal cannot generate its own food \u2013 it must eat to survive. This is related to the fact that most animals breathe Oxygen. (Plants breathe Carbon Dioxide).
\nUnlike plants and fungi, animal cells have a flexible membrane, rather than a solid wall.
\nIn addition, animals can usually move around, and respond to the environment. The world\u2019s largest animal is the Blue Whale.<\/p>\n
What kinds of animals are there?<\/p>\n
The animal kingdom is divided into a number of groups, called phyla. These include :<\/p>\n
Acanthocephala, meaning \u201cThorny head\u201d, contains 850 species of \u2018thorny-headed worms\u2019. These parasites have a spiny mouthpiece with which they hold onto the stomach lining of their victim.
\nAcoelomorpha, meaning \u201cWithout gut\u201d, have no stomach. Instead, these tiny creatures form a jelly-like surface into which their food is absorbed.
\nAnnelida, meaning \u201cLittle ring\u201d, contain the 15000 species of segmented worms, including the common earthworm. If you look at these worms it\u2019s as if their body is made up of a whole bunch of circular rings.
\nArthropoda means \u201cjointed foot\u201d. This is the biggest phylum by far, with over one million species. They include insects, spiders, crabs \u2013 and many other animals with a hard \u2018exoskeleton\u2019.
\nBrachiopoda, meaning \u201carm foot\u201d, is a small phylum of marine animals. They live in a shell, like clams and other bivalves, but internally they are very different from the bivalves. They typically have a bunch of tentacles around their mouths, and attach themselves to rocks.
\nBryozoa means \u201cMoss animals\u201d. These creatures are usually very small, and live in colonies, forming mats or rocky masses. There are about 5000 species of bryozoans.
\nthe Chaetognatha (meaning \u201cLonghair jaw\u201d) contains the 100 or so species of Arrow worms. Although there are few types of these tiny plankton, the population of some species is enormous!
\nChordata means \u201cCord\u201d. Animals in this phylum have a hollow backbone (or similar) containing an important nerve. Yes, just like us! And all the animals we are most familiar with \u2013 cats, dogs, birds, fish, frogs, turtles, and so on \u2013 including the world\u2019s largest. There are about 63000 species of Chordata.
\nCnidaria means \u201cStinging Nettle\u201d. This is a very appropriate name for this phylum, which includes the 10000 species of jellyfish, sea anenomes, sea wasps and various other soft marine creatures with stinging tentacles.
\nCtenophora, meaning \u201cComb bearer\u201d, contains only about 100 species of animals. Often confused with jellyfish, the \u2018comb jellies\u2019 are actually a different phylum altogether.
\nCycliophora means \u201cWheel carrying\u201d. This phylum has only 3 known species of very unusual animals, which share a symbiotic relationship with certain species of lobster.
\nEchinodermata means \u201cSpiny skin\u201d. These include about 7000 living species of starfish, urchins, sea cucumbers and similar creatures. All have, more or less obviously, the same kind of symmetry as the starfish.
\nEchiura means \u201cSpine tail\u201d. These worms (140 different types) are not segmented like the Annelids, but have spikes on their tails. Most live in water.
\nThe Entoprocta have mouths that look similar to the Brachiopods and the Bryozoans. However, they also expel their waste near their mouths. Yuk!
\nGastrotricha means \u201cHairy Stomach\u201d. These microscopic creatures (about 450 different species) live for a very short time (about 3 days).
\nThe Gnathostomulida are another small phylum of microscopic animals. Gnathostumulida are also known as \u201cJaw worms\u201d.
\nHemichordata means \u201cHalf cord\u201d. These are the 70 or so types of \u2018Acorn worm\u2019, and certain other similar creatures. Their distinguishing characteristic is that the part of their mouth cavity sticks out of their body like a big collar.
\nKinorhyncha means \u201cMotion snout\u201d. These are the whimsically named \u2018Mud dragons\u2019. They are very small creatures, with segmented spiny bodies, and a bunch of spikes around their head that they use to pull themselves through the mud. There are about 150 species known.
\nLoricifera means \u201cCorset bearer\u201d. There are only about 20 species of these tiny animals. They live in sea mud, and move around using scales that look like umbrellas.
\nMicrognathozoa means \u201cTiny Jaw Animal\u201d. In 2000, the only known species of micrognathozoa was discovered. It was so different from other animals, it was given its own phylum. It\u2019s jaw has 32 moving parts, making it one of the most complex in the animal kingdom.
\nMollusca means \u201cThin shell\u201d. These are the molluscs. With 112000 species, including snails, barnacles, bivalves (clams and so on), and even squids and octopuses, it is the second or third most diverse phylum.
\nMyxozoa means \u201cSlime animal\u201d. Earlier these were thought to be not animals at all. They are microscopic parasites affecting fish and worms.
\nNematoda means \u201cThreadlike\u201d. There are many species of nematodes, which look like microscopic worms. Many are parasites, and some of these are far from microscopic, but can grow up to a few metres in length! The nematodes are commonly called \u2019round worms\u2019.
\nNematomorpha means \u201cThread form\u201d. These long thin worms (called horsehair worms) are parasites attacking certain insects and crabs. There are about 320 species.
\nNemertea, meaning \u201cSea nymph\u201d, is the phylum of the 1200 species of Ribbon worm. The can turn their mouths inside-out, and eat by swallowing their prey whole. They can expand their bodies to swallow prey several times wider than themselves. One species is suspected to grow even longer than the blue whale!
\nOnychophora, meaning \u201cClaw bearer\u201d, is a small phylum of caterpiller-like creatures called Velvet Worms. Some scientists say the Velvet Worms don\u2019t belong in their own phylum, but are actually arthropods.
\nOrthonectida means \u201cStraight swim\u201d. These simple creatures (there are only about 20 species known) act as parasites in some worms, molluscs and echinoderms.
\nPhoronida is a small phylum of sea creatures that make a tube-shaped shell for themselves. They have a bunch of tentacles around their mouths. They are commonly called the \u2018Horseshoe worms\u2019, after the shape of their gut.
\nPlacozoa means \u201cTubular animals\u201d. There\u2019s only one known species, and it basically looks like a blob.
\nPlatyhelminthes means \u201cFlat worms\u201d, and is the phylum of the, well, Flat Worms. Most of the 25000 species are microscopic and free-living, and harmless. However, there are a few species which are parasites, including the infamous liver fluke, which affects about 30 million humans worldwide.
\nPorifera means \u201cPore bearer\u201d. These are the sea sponges \u2013 about 5000 species alove today. Sponges are unique amongst animals that they don\u2019t have organs as such, but their bodies are just a bunch of cells working together.
\nPriapulida are a small phylum (about 17 species) of sea-dwelling worms. They weer discovered a century ago, but are still not well-known.
\nRhombozoa means \u201cLozenge-shaped animal\u201d is a phylum of tiny parasites affecting octopuses and squids. Every adult (of a given species) has exactly the same number of cells!
\nRotifera means \u201cWheel bearer\u201d. These microscopic animals have tufts of hair around its mouth, which they use to wash food in. As they move the hair, it looks like the motion of a wheel. There are about 2000 species.
\nSipuncula means \u201cSmall tube\u201d. These are called \u2018peanut worms\u2019, because of the shape they take when frightened. The mouth has a mass of tentacles which can be inverted into its body. They are typically less than 10cm long.
\nTardigrada, meaning \u201cSlow step\u201d, is the phylum of the \u2018water bears\u2019. These are very small animals, that look a bit like a six-legged mole. They are found in extreme conditions, from the top of the Himalayas to the very depths of the sea. There are about 750 species.
\nXenoturbellida means \u201cStrange flatworm\u201d. Only 2 species are known. This animal has no well-defined organs except a nervous system. It eats molluscs.
\nWhat is the world\u2019s largest animal?<\/p>\n
The world\u2019s largest (although maybe not the world\u2019s longest) animal is the Blue Whale. It can grow up to 30 metres (100 feet) long or more, and weigh around 140 tonnes \u2013 that\u2019s 140000 kg, or 300000 pounds! It is even bigger than the largest dinosaurs ever were. Sadly, it almost went the way of the dinosaurs in the 20th century, due to whaling. Hunting of Blue Whales was banned in the 1960s, and finally ended in the 1970s. Even now, the population of blue whales is still less than 1% of what it was before whaling began.<\/p>\n
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