3. Animals belonging to phylum Chordata are
fundamentally characterised by the presence
of a notochord, a dorsalhollow nerve cord
and paired pharyngeal gill slits . These are
bilaterally symmetrical, triploblastic,
coelomate with organ-system level of
organisation. They possess a post anal tail
and a closed circulatory system
5. Phylum Chordata is divided into three
subphyla:
Urochordata or Tunicata,
Cephalochordata and
Vertebrata.
6. Subphyla Urochordata and
Cephalochordata are often referred to as
protochordates and are
exclusively marine. In Urochordata, notochord
is present only in larval tail, while in
Cephalochordata, it extends from head to tail
region and is persistent throughout their life.
Examples: Urochordata – Ascidia, Salpa,
Doliolum; Cephalochordata – Branchiostoma
(Amphioxus or Lancelet)
Ascidia
7. The members of subphylum Vertebrata
possess notochord during the embryonic
period. The notochord is replaced by a
cartilaginous or bony vertebral column in the
adult. Thus all vertebrates are chordates but
all chordates are not vertebrates. Besides the
basic chordate characters, vertebrates have a
ventral muscular heart with two, three or four
chambers, kidneys for excretion and
osmoregulation and paired appendages which
may be fins or limbs.
10. ACORN WORM
• Acorn worms are
simple, wormlike
marine animals that
burrow into wet sand
or mud of shallow
seafloors. Possibly
representing an
evolutionary link
between vertebrates
and invertebrates,
they pass through
stages in which they
possess
characteristics of
each type of animal
14. • Tunicate, common name for any member of
a subphylum of primitive marine chordates.
There are about 2000 known species. The
larval stage is characterized by the
presence of a notochord and a dorsal
nerve cord, both of which are lacking in
the adult. The adult is characterized by a
layer of protective secretion called a
tunic. Tunicates are common in such
habitats as rocky shores but can also be
found at great depths. Species known as
sea squirts make up one class in the
subphylum, and most tunicates belong to
this class. Tunicates are important
because they are an evolutionary link
between invertebrates and vertebrates
15. Cephalochordata
• These animals, which look like very small
fish, are about 5 cm (about 2 in) long and
have a well-developed notochord that
provides support for muscles used in
swimming. Lancelets live in sand and feed
with their gill apparatus. Although their
bodies have a much simpler structure than
that of fish—no heart or paired fins exist,
and they have only a trace of a brain—the
arrangement of parts is similar in these
animals.
24. Introduction
There are over 25650 species of fishes, divided
into three groups: bony fish, cartilaginous fish
and jawless fish. Bony fish which are most
numerous have skeletons of bone, and swim
bladders (gas filled organs) to keep them
afloat. Cartilaginous fish, such as sharks, rays,
and ratfish, are mostly marine hunters, they
have skeletons made of cartilage, and
sandpaper like skin. The primitive jawless fish have
sucker like mouths, and include lampreys and hagfish.
25. They are marine animals with streamlined body
and have cartilaginous endoskeleton. Mouth is located ventrally.
Notochord is persistent throughout life. Gill
slits are separate and without operculum (gill
cover). The skin is tough, containing minute
placoid scales. Teeth are modified placoid
scales which are backwardly directed. Their
jaws are very powerful. These animals are
predaceous. Due to the absence of air bladder,
they have to swim constantly to avoid sinking.
26. General Characters
Boat shaped body
Dermal scales
Fins
Endoskeleton
Gills
Venous Heart
Cold Blooded Vertebrates
Lateral line sense organs
Internal ear
28. Chondrichthyes
Placiod Scales Body
Heterocercal caudal Fin
Cartilaginous Endo Skeleton
Five or more pairs of gills
No air bladder
A pair of claspers for males
29. Different types of Chondrichthyes
Shark (Scoliodon)
Viviparous fish ranging from 1
to 7 feet in length
Body divisible into head ,
trunk and tail
30.
31. Narcine (Torpedo)
A Bottom dwelling fish
Dorsoventrally flattened body
Ventrally positioned mouth
and gills
Head bears a pair of electric
organs other than eyes and
spiracles
Short tail with two dorsal fins
Carnivorous
32.
33. Trygon (Stingray)
Dorsoventrally flattened body
Ventrally positioned mouth
and gills
Head bears a pair of eyes and
spiracles
Pectoral fins are confluent
with the sides of the head
Whip like tail with serrated
spines
Males have a pair of claspers
Carnivorous
34.
35. Pristis (Saw Fish)
Shark like body
Head and skull are
prolonged into a long
flattened rostrum with
toothed margin
Anal fin is absent
Carnivorous
36.
37. Osteicthyes
Bony endoskeleton
Body is covered by cycloid, ctenoid or ganoid scales
Terminal mouth
Homoceral caudal fin
Four pairs of gills operculum
Presence of air bladder
No copulatory organs
External fertilization
38. Different types of Osteicthyes
Catla(Indian Carp)
Stout and elongated body
Blackish gray body colour
Wide mouth
Pectoral fins are placed
low down
Large Dorsal fins
Bilobed Caudal fin
40. Anabas (Climbing
Perch)
Laterally compressed body
Small paired fins
Dorsal and anal fins are
long and spinous
Operculum possesses
spines
Presence of labyrinthiform
41.
42. Exocoetus (Flying
fish)
Elongated and compressed
body
Black spots on pectoral
fins
Wide mouth
Wing like pectoral fins
43.
44. Tuna (Tunnies)
Streamlined body
Two dorsal fins
6-9 finlets behind second
dorsal and anal fins
45.
46. Hippocampus (Sea
horse)
Body covered by bony
scutes
Mouth at tip of the snout
Very small pectoral fins
Pelvic fins are absent
Prehensile tail
Brood pouch for males
Swim in vertical plan
47.
48. Remora (sucker fish)
Depressed head
First dorsal fin modified
into sucker
Second dorsal and anal fins
are long and extended up
to tail
Not a parasite
49.
50. Cybium (Seer fish)
Elongated and coloured
body
Pectoral fins are inserted
high upon the sides
First dorsal fin is spiny
Anal fin is broken up into
finlets
51. Pomfret
Laterally compressed body
with grey brown colour
Protruded lower jaw
Falcate dorsal and anal fins
Long pectoral fin
Forked caudal fin
52. Etroplus( Pearlspot)
Light green in colour with
yellowish transverse bands
Oblong and laterally
compressed body
Dorsal fins with 18 spines
Anal fin with 13 fines
53. Tilapia
Black or brown body with
round snouts
Long spinous and single
dorsal fin
Long pectoral fin
54. Sardine
Oblonge and laterally
compressed body
Head devoid of scales
Terminal mouth
One dorsal fin
Moves in groups called
Shoals
55.
56. Mackeral
(Rastrellinger)
Laterally compressed body
Length of the head and
width of the body are
equal
Two dorsal fin
Finlets are present in
second dorsal and anal fins
Occur in shoals
57.
58. Aquatic adaptations of fishes
Streamlined boat shaped body and slimy skin offers a least
resistance while swimming
Paired and unpaired fins for locomotion and balancing
Lateral line sense organs for detecting the movements of
other fishes and pressure variations in the surrounding
water
Swim bladder acts as buoyancy regulatory
Gills for aquatic respiration
Eyes are covered by nictitating membrane which gives
protection without affecting normal vision
59. Economic importance of fishes
Used as food
Used for the preparation of liver oil
Used for the preparation of fish meal
Dried shark skin is used for making shagreen
Air bladder is used for making isinglass, which is used for
the preparation of ink, leather, cement etc.
60.
61.
62. INTRODUCTION
Amphibian is the class of tetrapoda which
have aquatic larval stage and terrestrial adult
stage. They were the first tetrapoda to evolve
during Devonian. Tetrapoda is the super class
of four footed animals where the limbs are
pentadactyl or with 5 digits. There are about
3000 species at present.
63. Amphibian includes anornenotes [without amnion] poikilothermic
animals, which live both in fresh water and moist.
Skin is without scales. It has glands and is kept moist.
Limbs are pentadactyl for walking and swimming. Digits do not
have nails.
Heart is three chambered. Both renal and hepatic portal systems
are absent RBC are nucleated.
Gills occur in larval stages which may also posses unpaired fins.
Gills occur in some adults in addition to lungs. Respiration can
also occur through skin and bucal cavity.
Both middle and inner ears are present.
Eyes have eyelids.
Nitrogenous excretory product is usually urea.
Kidney is mesonerphic but tadpole has pronephric one.
Skull is dycondylic.
64. The much maligned venomous cane toads
earned their bad reputation shortly after being
released into the Australian ecology in 1935 with
the hope that they would control the
destructive cane beetle population. They turned
out to be
failures at controlling beetles, but remarkably
successful at reproducing and spreading
themselves.
Cane toads are large, stocky amphibians with
dry, warty skin, and are native to the southern
United States, Central America, and tropical South
America. Their numbers are manageable in their
natural range, but they have thrived in Australia
because there are few natural predators, they
breed easily, and they have abundant food,
including even pet food, which they steal from
feeding bowls left outside of homes.
CANE
TOAD
Type: Amphibian
Diet: Omnivore
Average lifespan
in the wild: 5 to
10 years
Size: 4 to 6 in
(10 to 15 cm)
Weight: 2.9 lbs
(1.3 kg)
65. GOLDEN
TOAD
The Golden Toad of Monteverde, Costa Rica was
among the first casualties of amphibian declines.
Formerly abundant, it was last seen in 1989.
Dramatic declines in amphibian populations,
including population crashes and mass localized
extinction, have been noted in the past two
decades from locations all over the world, and
amphibian declines are thus perceived as one of
the most critical threats to global biodiversity. A
number of causes are believed to be involved,
including habitat destruction and modification,
over-exploitation, pollution, introduced species,
climate change, destruction of the ozone layer
(ultraviolet radiation has shown to be especially
damaging to the skin, eyes, and eggs of
amphibians), and diseases like chytridiomycosis.
However, many of the causes of amphibian
declines are still poorly understood, and amphibian
declines are currently a topic of much ongoing
research.
66.
67. BULL FROG
The largest of all North American frogs, this giant
can grow to a length of 8 inches (20 centimeters)
or more and weigh up to 1.5 pounds (750 grams).
Even the tadpoles of this species can reach 6.75
inches (17.2 centimeters) in length.
They are among the most wide-ranging of all
North American amphibians, found in freshwater
ponds, lakes, and marshes from Nova Scotia,
Canada, throughout the continental United States,
and as far south as Mexico and Cuba.
Bullfrogs are typically green or gray-brown with
brown spots and have easily identifiable circular
eardrums, or tympanum, on either side of their
heads.
Nocturnal predators, they will ambush and eat
just about anything they can fit in their ample
mouths, including insects, mice, fish, birds, and
snakes. They sit quietly and wait for prey to pass
by, then lunge with their powerful hind legs,
mouths open wide.
Type: Amphibian
Diet: Carnivore
Average lifespan
in the wild: 7 to 9
years
Size: (adult
female) 3.5 to 6
in (9 to 15 cm)
Weight: 1.1 lb
(0.50 kg)
Group name:
Army or colony
68. LEOPARD
FROG
Northern leopard frogs are so named for the array
of irregularly shaped dark spots that adorn their
backs and legs. They are greenish-brown in color
with a pearly white underside and light-colored
ridges on either side of their backs. They are
considered medium-size, reaching lengths of 3 to
5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 centimeters), nose to rump.
Females are slightly larger than males.
Leopard frogs will eat just about anything they can
fit in their mouths. They sit still and wait for prey
to happen by, then pounce with their powerful
legs. They eat beetles, ants, flies, worms, smaller
frogs, including their own species, and even birds,
and garter snakes.
The northern leopard frog is perhaps most
recognizable as the formaldehyde-soaked
specimen in the high school lab tray.
Type: Amphibian
Diet: Carnivore
Average lifespan
in the wild: 2 to 4
years
Size: 3 to 5 in
(7.6 to 12.7 cm)
Group name:
Army
69.
70. HYLA – TREE FROG
Hyla is commonly known as a tree frog. It is
an arboreal frog. Fingers and toes are
provided with adhesive pads which are used
for climbing. Some species have poisonous
glands in the skin. Upper jaw is toothed, while
lower jaw is toothless. Female carries the
eggs, on its back till hatching and shows
parental care. Hyla is not found in india.
71.
72.
73. RHACOPHORUS – FLYING FROG
The overachieving Wallace's flying frog wasn't
content to just hop and swim. Thousands of years
of watching birds navigate the rain forest and
avoid predators by taking to the sky appears to
have convinced this unique amphibian that air
travel is the way to go.
Also known as parachute frogs, Wallace's flying
frogs inhabit the dense tropical jungles of Malaysia
and Borneo. They live almost exclusively in the
trees, descending only to mate and lay eggs.
When threatened or in search of prey, they will
leap from a branch and splay their four webbed
feet. The membranes between their toes and loose
skin flaps on their sides catch the air as they fall,
helping them to glide, sometimes 50 feet (15
meters) or more, to a neighboring tree branch or
even all the way to the ground.
Type: Amphibian
Diet: Carnivore
Size: 4 in (10 cm)
Group name: Army
74. POISON DART
FROG
Poison dart frogs, members of the Dendrobatidae
family, wear some of the most brilliant and beautiful
colors on Earth. Depending on individual habitats,
which extend from the tropical forests of Costa Rica
to Brazil, their coloring can be yellow, gold, copper,
red, green, blue, or black. Their elaborate designs
and hues are deliberately ostentatious to ward off
potential predators, a tactic called anosmatic
coloration.
Some species display unusual parenting habits,
including carrying both eggs and tadpoles on their
backs. Although this "backpacking" is not unique
among amphibians, male poison arrow frogs are
exceptional in their care, attending to the clutch,
sometimes exclusively, and performing vital
transportation duties.
Dendrobatids include some of the most toxic animals
on Earth. The two-inch-long (five-centimeter-long)
golden poison dart frog has enough venom to kill 10
Type: Amphibian
Diet: Carnivore
Average lifespan
in the wild: 3 to
15 years
Size: 1 in (2.5
cm)
Group name:
Army
75.
76. For the purpose of reproduction most amphibians are bound to fresh
water. A few tolerate brackish water, but there are no true seawater
amphibians. Several hundred frog species in adaptive radiations (e.g.,
Eleutherodactylus, the Pacific Platymantines, the Australo-Papuan
microhylids, and many other tropical frogs), however, do not need any
water whatsoever. They reproduce via direct development, an ecological
and evolutionary adaptation that has allowed them to be completely
independent from free-standing water. Almost all of these frogs live in
wet tropical rainforests and their eggs hatch directly into miniature
versions of the adult, passing through the tadpole stage within the egg.
Several species have also adapted to arid and semi-arid environments,
but most of them still need water to lay their eggs. Symbiosis with single
celled algae that lives in the jelly-like layer of the eggs has evolved
several times. The larvae (tadpoles or polliwogs) breathe with exterior
gills. After hatching, they start to transform gradually into the adult's
appearance. This process is called metamorphosis. Typically, the animals
then leave the water and become terrestrial adults, but there are many
interesting exceptions to this general way of reproduction.
REPRODUCTION
77.
78.
79.
80.
81. SPOTTED SALAMANDER
Despite being fairly large and having an extremely
broad range, the spotted salamander is actually
pretty hard to, well, spot.
They can reach 9 inches (23 centimeters) in length
and are prevalent in mature deciduous forests from
eastern Canada throughout the eastern and
midwestern United States. But these secretive
salamanders spend almost their entire lives hidden
under rocks or logs or in the burrows of other forest
animals.
They will populate upland forests and mountainous
regions, but are most common in moist, low-lying
forests near floodplains.
They emerge from their subterranean hiding spots
only at night to feed and during spring mating. They
will actually travel long distances over land after a
heavy rain to mate and lay their eggs in vernal pools
and ponds.
Type: Amphibian
Diet: Carnivore
Average lifespan
in the wild: Up to
20 years
Size: 7 in (18 cm)
82. TIGER SALAMANDER
Tiger salamanders' markings are variable throughout
their extensive range, but the most common
marking resembles the vertically striped pattern of
their mammalian namesake.
They are usually brown in color with brilliant yellow
stripes or blotches over the length of their bodies.
Their base color, however, can also be greenish or
gray and their markings can be yellow dots or brown
splotches. Some have no markings at all.
Thick-bodied amphibians with short snouts, sturdy
legs, and long tails, tigers are the largest land-
dwelling salamander on Earth. They can grow to 14
inches (35 centimeters) in length, but the average
size is more like 6 to 8 inches (15.2 to 20.3
centimeters).
They are also the most wide-ranging salamander
species in North America, living throughout most of
Type: Amphibian
Diet: Carnivore
Average lifespan in
the wild: 12 to 15
years
Size: 7 to 14 in (18
to 35 cm)
Weight: 4.4 oz (126
g)
83. AXOLOTL
The Mexican axolotl (pronounced ACK-suh-LAH-
tuhl) salamander has the rare trait of retaining its
larval features throughout its adult life. This
condition, called neoteny, means it keeps its
tadpole-like dorsal fin, which runs almost the
length of its body, and its feathery external gills,
which protrude from the back of its wide head.
Found exclusively in the lake complex of
Xochimilco (pronounced SO-chee-MILL-koh) near
Mexico City, axolotls differ from most other
salamanders in that they live permanently in
water. In extremely rare cases, an axolotl will
progress to maturity and emerge from the water,
but by and large, they are content to stay on the
bottom of Xochimilco’s lakes and canals.
.
Type: Amphibian
Diet: Carnivore
Average lifespan in
the wild: 10 to 15
years
Size: up to 12 in (30
cm)
Weight: 2.11 to 8 oz
(60 to 227 g)
84. MUDPUPPIES - WATERDOGS
Mudpuppies, also called waterdogs, are one of
only a few salamanders that make noise. They
get their name from the somewhat embellished
notion that their squeaky vocalizations sound like
a dog's bark.
Among the largest of the salamanders,
mudpuppies can exceed 16 inches (41
centimeters) in length, although the average is
more like 11 inches (28 centimeters). Their range
runs from southern central Canada, through the
midwestern United States, east to North Carolina
and south to Georgia and Mississippi.
Mudpuppies live on the bottoms of lakes, ponds,
rivers, and streams, and never leave the water.
They hide themselves in vegetation and under
rocks and logs, emerging at night to feed on
whatever prey they can catch, including crayfish,
worms, and snails.
Type: Amphibian
Diet: Carnivore
Average lifespan in
the wild: 11 years
Size: 8 to 13 in (20
to 33 cm)
85. ICHTHYOPHIS
Ichthyophis is a blind tailless and limbless amphibian
of 15-22cm length which lives in burrows in moist soil
. The body is long and cylindrical. Skin is provided
with bony scales. Eyes are rudimentary. Head is small
and compact. Sensory tentacles between the eyes
and nostril. Both jaws bear teeth. Male has an
eversible copulatory organ bearing hooks. The female
coils and the eggs. It is found in India.
87. The class name refers to their creeping or crawling mode of
locomotion (Latin, repere or reptum, to creep or crawl).
They are mostly terrestrial animals and their body is covered by dry
and cornified skin, epidermal scales or scutes .
They do not have external ear openings.
Tympanum represents ear.
Limbs, when present, are two pairs.
Heart is usually three-chambered, but four-chambered in crocodiles.
Reptiles are poikilotherms.
Snakes and lizards shed their scales as skin cast.
Sexes are separate.
Fertilisation is internal.
They are oviparous and development is direct.
108. The class aves includes birds characterized by the
presence of feathers and the power of flight. About 9000
species of the birds are known. They are most beautiful
animals with a wide range of colours and behaviors such
as courtship, nest building, parental care and migration.
They communicate by song and bird calls. Most of the
birds can fly. A few have lost the power of flight. The study
of birds is known as Ornithology.
109. 1. Presence of wings: Fore limbs are modified into wings. They are powered by
powerful flight muscles.
2. Feathery covering: Body is stream lined and is covered with feathers.
3. Pneumatic bones: Bones are hollow and filled with air.
4. Beak: the upper and lower jaws are modified into beak.
5. Four chambered heart: Heart is four chambered with two auricles and
ventricles.
6. Warm blooded: Birds are warm blooded animals with constant body
temperature.
7. Hind limbs are variously adapted for walking, hoping, perching, grasping,
swimming etc.
8. Alimentary canal has crop to store food and a muscular Gizzard for grinding.
9. Double respiration: Lungs are adapted for double respiration.
10.Brain: They have well developed brain.
110. 11.They have no urinary bladder.
12.Ovary: right ovary and oviducts disappear in the adults. It is to reduce the weight.
13. Fertilization is internal. Development is direct.
111. Birds are evolved in the Jurassic period from bipedal reptiles. The following are
the evidences to show that birds have a reptilian ancestry.
1. Feathers are modified reptilian scales.
2. Hind limbs have scales.
3. Clawed toes.
4. Amniotic membrane.
5. Archaeopteryx, a reptile bird is considered as the connecting link between
reptile and birds.
112.
113. Birds are adapted for an aerial life. Every part of their body is suited for various
purposes.
1. Presence of wings.
2. Body is covered by feathers.
3. Well developed flight muscles.
4. Well developed keel for the attachment of flight muscles.
5. Four chambered heart with complete separation of oxygenated and
deoxygenated blood.
6. Pneumatic bones.
7. Double respiration.
8. Homeotherms (warm blooded) with a high body temperature.
9. Sense of vision is great.
10.Hind limbs supports the entire body.
114. The House Crow (Corvus splendens), also known
as the Colombo Crow is a common Asian bird of
the Crow family. It is between the Jackdaw and the
Carrion Crow in size (40 cm in length) but is
relatively slimmer than either. The forehead, crown,
throat and upper breast are a richly glossed black,
whilst the neck and breast are a lighter grey-brown
in colour. The wings, tail and legs are black. There
are regional variations in the thickness of the bill
and the depth of colour in areas of the plumage
115. A common sight in urban areas throughout the world, the
Rock Pigeon was introduced into North America in the
early 1600s. City buildings and their window ledges
mimic the rocky cliffs used by wild pigeons
Description
Size: 29-36 cm (11-14 in)
Wingspan: 50-67 cm (20-26 in)
Weight: 265-380 g (9.35-13.41 ounces)
Large pigeon.
Color variable, but wild birds are gray.
White rump.
Rounded tail, usually with dark tip.
Pale gray wings have two black bars.
Wings broad with moderately pointed wingtips.
116. The term peafowl can refer to the two species of bird in the
genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. The
African Congo Peafowl is placed in its own genus Afropavo
and is not dealt with here. Peafowl are best known for the
male's extravagant tail, which it displays as part of
courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a
peahen[1], though it is common to hear the female also
referred to as a "peacock" or "female peacock". The female
peafowl is brown or toned grey and brown.
117. The chicken (Gallus gallus) is a type of
domesticated fowl, believed to be descended
from the wild Indian and south-east Asian Red
Junglefowl.
The chicken is one of the most common and
wide-spread domestic animals. With a
population of more than 24 billion in 2003,[1]
there are more chickens in the world than any
other bird. Humans keep chickens primarily as a
source of food, from both their meat and their
eggs.
118. Members of the parrot genus Psittacula or Afro-
Asian Ringnecked parakeets as they are commonly
known in aviculture originates found from Africa to
South-East Asia. It is a widespread group, with a
clear concentration of species in south Asia, but
also with representatives in Africa and the islands of
the Indian Ocean. This is the only genus of Parrot
which has majority of its species in continental Asia.
Of all the extant species only Psittacula calthropae,
Psittacula caniceps and Psittacula echo do not have
a representative subspecies in any part of mainland
continental Asia. The Rose-ringed Parakeet,
Psittacula krameri, is one of the most widely
distributed of all parrots.
119. The Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus, is a very
large owl native to North and South America. It is an
adaptable bird with a vast range, though it is not as
widespread as the Barn Owl.
120. The Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias, is a
wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common
over most of North and Central America as well as
the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands,
except for the far north, or in deserts and high
mountains where there is no water for it to feed in.
121. Milvus is a genus of medium-sized birds of prey.
It is an Old World group consisting of three kites
which form part of the subfamily Milvinae. Its
systematics are under revision; it contains 3-4
species
122. Kingfishers are birds of the three families
Alcedinidae (river kingfishers), Halcyonidae (tree
kingfishers), and Cerylidae (water kingfishers).
There are about 90 species of kingfisher. All
have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills,
short legs, and stubby tails. They are found
throughout the world.
123. The Ostrich (Struthio camelus) is a flightless bird
native to Africa. It is the only living species of its
family, Struthionidae, and its genus, Struthio. It
is distinctive in its appearance, with a long neck
and legs and the ability to run at speeds of about
65 km/h (40 mph), the top land speed of any
bird.[1]
124. A kiwi is any of the species of small flightless
birds endemic to New Zealand of the genus
Apteryx (the only genus in family Apterygidae).
At around the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are
by far the smallest living ratites. Most kiwi species
are endangered. The kiwi is also a national
symbol of New Zealand.
157. They are found in a variety of habitats – polarice caps,
deserts, mountains,
forests, grasslands and dark caves. Some of them have
adapted to fly or
live in water. The most unique mammalian characteristic
is the presence
of milk producing glands (mammary glands) by which
the young ones
are nourished. They have two pairs of limbs, adapted for
walking, running,
climbing, burrowing, swimming or flying The skin of
158. mammals is unique in possessing hair. External
ears or pinnae are present. Different types of
teeth are present in the jaw. Heart is four
chambered.
They are homoiothermous. Respiration is by
lungs. Sexes are separate and fertilisation is
internal. They are viviparous with few
exceptions and development is direct.