science

1. The Animal Kingdom
Animal groupings are similar to plants. The groupings are:
· Kingdom - There are two basic kingdoms, the plant and animal
kingdoms. There is a third with animals that bridge the plant and
animal kingdom.
· Phylum - Within the plant and animal kingdoms are big groupings
called phylum or phyla. Animals are grouped into phyla that have
broad similar characteristics.
· Classes - These are a finer division of a phyla.
· Orders - These are divisions of classes.
· Families - These are divisions of
· Genera - These are the divisions of families.
· Species - These are the divisions of genera.
To date there are five kingdoms:
Animalia, which is made up of animals;
Plantae, which is made up of plants;
Protista, which is made up of protists (single-celled creatures invisible to the
human eye);
Fungi, which is made up of mushrooms, mold, yeast, lichen, etc; and
Monera, which is made up of the three types of bacteria.
Main group of Invertebrates are :
The largest and most commonly studied phyla of animals are:
1. Porifera (sponges)
2. Cnidaria (jellyfish, hydras, sea anemones, Portuguese man-of-wars,
and corals)
3. Platyhelminthes (flatworms, including planaria, flukes, and tapeworms)
4. Nematoda (roundworms, including rotifers and nematodes)
5. Mollusca (mollusks, including bivalves, snails and slugs, and octopuses
and squids)
6. Annelida (segmented worms, including earthworms, leeches, and
marine worms)
7. Echinodermata (including sea stars, sea cucumbers, sand dollars, and
sea urchins)
8. Arthropoda (including arachnids, crustaceans, millipedes, centipedes,
and insects)

2. Vertebrates.
9. Chordata (animals with nerve chords - this group includes the
vertebrates)
Animals are classified into two main groups, Invertebrates and
Vertebrates.
Phylum Protozoa
This phylum consists of unicellular free-living animals (one cell). Most of
them live in water, either seawater, fresh water or soil borne water. They are
nearly all microscopic.
The various species of Protozoans move in a number of ways:
· Pseudopodia (False feet)
· Cilia (Small moving hairs)
· Tails
Reproduction of protozoans occurs by means of binary fission or mitosis.
Amoeba is one of the most common protozoans and moves by means of
pseudopodia.

3. Phylum Platyhelminthes
The phylum literally means “flat worms” and all the members of this phylum
are flat worms! The phylum is classified into three main groups or classes:
· Class Turbellaria (Free living)
· Class Trematoda (Parasitic Flukes)
· Class Cestoda (Parasitic Tapeworms)
All platyhelminths are hermaphrodites (are both male and female) and can, if
required, can fertilize themselves. The most important agricultural species of
platyhelminths is the
Liver Fluke or Fasciola hepatica.

4. Phylum Nematoda
Nematodes are also known as roundworms or eelworms. There are huge
numbers of species in this phylum. All these worms reproduce by laying
thousands of eggs, which become encysted in the grass and wait to be
ingested. The most important species are:
· Lungworms (Causes Hoose)
· Hairworms (Worms in school children)
· Potato eelworm
· Stomach worms
Phylum Annelida

5. These are the segmented worms and include the earthworm – Lumbricus
terrestris and leeches. On each segment, earthworms have four bristles or
Chaetae, which they use to move. Earthworms are important to the farmer
because they improve the soil in the following ways:
· They eat their way through the soil and mix the ingested
material with mucus in their guts. This helps to improve soil
crumb structure.
· Depositing soil in different places and mixing horizons.
· Improve drainage of heavy clay soils
· Introduces more air into the soil.
· When they die the further increase the amount of organic
matter.
Phylum Mollusca
The molluscs include slugs, snails, squid, mussels, clams and octopus.

6. These animals generally have a foot, which excretes a slimy mucus. They
also have a rasping tongue. The most agriculturally important mollusc is the
mud snail (Lymnaea truncatula)
Phylum Arthropoda
This is the largest phylum containing nearly a million species. Therefore it is
necessary to sub classify the phylum into classes. All Arthropods have
jointed legs and an exoskeleton (outer skeleton). Members of the phylum
include scorpions, insects, spiders, shellfish (crustaceans), woodlice,
centipedes and millipedes.
The most important classes of Arthropods are the spiders and insects.
Class Insecta (Insects)
They have three main body parts: Head, thorax and abdomen They include
aphids, lice, fleas, crane-flies and butterflies.

7. The life cycle of all insects follows this path:
Egg - Larvae - Pupa - Adult
Class Arachnida (Spiders)
The spider has two main body segments, the cephalothorax and the
abdomen. Some of the diseases spiders cause on the farm are mange
(scabies) and flea (mites). Ticks are blood sucking spiders that can attack
sheep and spread disease (red water fever)
A lot of the members of phylum Arthropoda are Parasites.

8. Parasites are animals that live at the expense of other animals.
Phylum Chordata
All animals in the phylum Chordata have backbones and are vertebrates.
Examples include fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. The two
main agricultural classes are Class Aves (Birds) and Class Mammalia
(Mammals).
Class Aves
All members of this class have feathers, no teeth but a beak, lightened
bones and no bladder.
Class Mammalia
All mammals have the following traits:
· Hair
· A Placenta
· Mammary glands to produce milk

9. Invertebrates
Animals
without a Backbone
or Spinal Column:
Vertebrates
Animals
with a Backbone
or Spinal Column:
(All these arnimals are in the phyla
Chordata and the subphyla
Vertebrata.)
Protozoa
(phyla: protozoa)
Fish
(group: Pisces)
Echinoderms
such as starfish
(phyla: Echinodermata)
Amphibians
such as frogs
(class: Amphibia)
Annelids
such as earthworms
(phyla: Annelida)
Reptiles
such as crocodiles
(class: Reptilia)
Mollusks
such as octopus
(phyla: Mollusca)
Birds
(class: Aves)
Arthropods
such as crabs, spiders and insects
(phyla: Arthropoda)
Mammals
(class: Mammalia)
Crustaceans
such as crabs
(subphyla: Crustacea)
Marsupials
such as kangaroos
(order: Marsupialia)
Arachnids
such as spiders
(subphyla: Chelicerata
class: Arachnida)
Primates
such as gorillas and chimpanzees
(order: Primates)
Insects
(subphyla: Uniramia
class: Insecta)
Rodents
such as mice
(order: Rodentia)

10. Cetaceans
such as whales and dolphins
( order: Cetacea)
Animals such as seals
(order: Carnivora
family: Phocidae)