DK - WOW! The Visual Encyclopedia of Everything

All living things fall into one of five categories, or “kingdoms”

• bacteria and protists (single-celled organisms), fungi, plants, and animals. The animal kingdom is made up of many groups of invertebrates (animals without backbones,
  ANIMAL KINGDOMsuch as insects) and a few groups of vertebrates, such as mammals. They all share the ability to move and sense their surroundings, and the need to find food.

This silver-washed fritillary butterfly has bright wing markings

A leech lives

by sucking

the blood of

its victims

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BIRDS

These highly specialized, warm-blooded vertebrates are superbly equipped for flight, and some may

stay airborne for most of their

lives. They are the only animals

with feathers, which stop

them losing body heat,

enable them to fly,

and are often brightly coloured.

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INSECTS

Small animals with hard external skeletons,

all insects have six legs when adult and, in

most cases, two pairs of wings. They include creatures such as butterflies, wasps, flies, and beetles. Many are very attractive, but some

can sting, bite, and carry deadly diseases.^2

WORMS

There are many types of worms.

They include tapeworms, which

live inside other animals, flatworms,

and roundworms. Most familiar are segmented worms like the earthworms that burrow in soil, marine worms

that live on tidal shores, and leeches.

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AMPHIBIANS

Soft-skinned amphibians, such as frogs and toads, lose body moisture easily. To avoid drying out, nearly all frogs live in damp places, often near a pond. Most lay their eggs in water or other damp places, and these hatch into fish-like young,

such as tadpoles.

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MAMMALS

Like birds, mammals are warm-blooded, meaning they can control their body temperature. The females feed their young on milk. Most eat plants, but some, such as lions, are meat eaters. Humans belong to the mammal group.^6

ARACHNIDS

The spiders, scorpions, ticks, and their relatives are eight-legged invertebrates with hard external skeletons but no wings. Spiders kill their prey with venomous fangs, and scorpions have stings in their tails, some of which are powerful enough to kill a human.

Sticky pads on the frog’s toes give good grip

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The red-kneed tarantula has eight legs for walking and two chelicerae (mouthparts) to hold its prey

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