VERTEBRATES AND INVERTEBRATES - 6th GRADE I/II

VERTEBRATES 

The vertebrate animals are living beings that have the most advanced organism on our planet. They have as main characteristic: the spinal cord and spinal column (made up of vertebrae).

Main Features

Other important features are the fact of having muscles and skeleton, which allows them to perform more complex movements. His ability and his intelligence on the movements, make that vertebrates have an advantage over other species.

Most vertebrates have a well developed nervous system. Your central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord. In lower vertebrates the brain predominantly controls the functions of sensory organs. In the case of higher vertebrates, the brain, which is larger, it allows a more intensive exchange of information between different parts of the body.

As we saw, vertebrates are living creatures that have many advantages over other species, however, it is important to know that they also have many limitations.

If we make a comparison, we see that the number of vertebrates (about 50,000 species) is lower than the group of invertebrate animals. One reason is the size difference between these two species, vertebrates are generally larger, and, therefore, take up more space.

 
INVERTEBRATES

There are two main groups in the animal kingdom: the vertebrates and invertebrates. Both belong to the kingdom Animalia, however, the body structure varies greatly from one group to another.

Main Features

The group of invertebrates includes 97% of all animal species except the vertebrates (fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals).

A common feature of all invertebrates is the lack of backbone. As an example, the sponges (which although not always fit this category, continue to be part of this group).

Besides the lack of backbone, there are other features common to these beings, such as:

• Training multicellular (different groups of cells that comprise the body)
• Absence of cell wall (because they are made up of animal cell)

• With the exception of sponges, have tissues as a result of their cellular organization
• Your reproduction is usually sexual (male and female gametes combine to form a new organism)

In general, we can say that the vast majority of invertebrates are able to get around. However, sponges only perform this task when they are still very young and small. Already lobsters and insects are able to move throughout its existence.

Unlike plants (which produce their own energy through photosynthesis), invertebrates need to extract the energy needed for their survival through other beings. For that, they feed on autotrophs beings (plants) and heterotrophs (animals).