There are more of them than there are of us.
Animals. They come in all shapes and sizes.
Those smart scientists sort them into big groups called phyla (FYE-luh), and smaller groups inside those are called classes.
So today, we have a look at the animal world from a different perspective. The phyla.
There are four. Mostly.
Chordata.
Arthropoda
Mollusca
Cnidaria
1. Chordata (kor-DAH-tuh) These animals have a backbone.
Mammals (Mammalia) — Humans, dogs, whales. You know the drill. They have fur or hair and drink milk as babies. Birds (Aves) — Our good eagles and penguins and such. They have feathers and lay eggs.
Reptiles (Reptilia) — Like snakes and turtles. Scaly skin, and most lay eggs.
Amphibians (Amphibia) — These are frogs and salamanders. They live in water and on land.
Fish — Some have bones (Actinopterygii, like goldfish), some have cartilage (Chondrichthyes, like sharks), and some are weird jawless ones (Agnatha, like lampreys).
2. Arthropoda (AR-throp-oh-duh) Bugs and other creatures with hard outsides and jointed legs. Insects (Insecta) — Like bees and butterflies. 6 legs and usually wings. Spiders and scorpions (Arachnida) — 8 legs, no wings Crabs and shrimp (Crustacea) — Live in water, have claws
3. Mollusca (muh-LUS-kuh) Soft squishy animals, sometimes with shells. Snails and slugs (Gastropoda) — Slow movers with a slime trail. Octopuses and squids (Cephalopoda) — Super smart sea creatures with tentacle
4. Cnidaria (Say: nuh-DAIR-ee-uh) Jelly-like sea creatures with stingers. Jellyfish (Scyphozoa) — Floaty and see-through, with tentacles. Corals and sea anemones (Anthozoa) — They look like plants, but they’re animals!
So there they are. The animal kingdom among us. Ourselves included.
We have a backbone, you see. So that makes us one of the Chordata.
Today and every day, please be kind to all sentient beings. Sentient means that something or someone is able to perceive or feel things. That makes all of the above.
Have a backbone. Be kind in all things.
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“We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err. For the animal shall not be measured by man.” — Henry Beston
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“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” — Anatole France
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“All creatures are deserving of a life free from fear and pain.” — Maura Cummings
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“Each and every animal on earth has as much right to be here as you and me.” — Anthony Douglas Williams
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“Be kind to all creatures This is the true religion.” — Buddha
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