The Classification of Animals

The Animals with Backbones

Amphibians

Amphibians (class Amphibia), such as frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians, are ectothermic (or cold-blooded) animals that metamorphose from a juvenile water-breathing form, to an adult air-breathing form. Though amphibians typically have four limbs, the Caecilians are notable for being limbless. Unlike other land animals (amniotes), amphibians lay eggs in water. Amphibians are superficially similar to reptiles.

California Newt

Wood Frog

Tree Frog

Marbled Salamander

Leopard Frog

Mammals

Mammals (formally Mammalia) are a class of vertebrate animals whose females are characterized by the possession of mammary glands while both males and females are characterized by sweat glands, hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in the brain.

Elephant

Leopard

Fox

Panda

Lynx

Lion

Zebra

Wild Cat

Tiger

Reptiles

Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia, are air-breathing, cold-blooded amniotes that have skin covered in scales or scutes as opposed to hair or feathers. They are tetrapods (having or having descended from vertebrates with four limbs) and lay amniote eggs, whose embryos are surrounded by the amnion membrane.

Chameleon

Sand Skink

Nile Crocodile

Green Turtle

Green Iguana

Water Snake

Spectacles Cobra

Birds

Birds (class Aves) are winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the 5 cm (2 in) Bee Hummingbird to the 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) Ostrich.

Fish

A fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic (or cold-blooded), covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins. Fish are abundant in the sea and in fresh water, with species being known from mountain streams (e.g., char and gudgeon) as well as in the deepest depths of the ocean (e.g., gulpers and anglerfish).