1. If vertebrates are held up by their backbone, what keeps images from flickr by mohammadali, imarsman
listentoreason and t buchtele under a creative
the invertebrates in shape? commons license
4. What are invertebrates?
An invertebrate is an animal lacking a vertebral column. The group includes 98% of all animal species[1] — all animals except those in the Chordate subphylum Vertebrata
(fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals).
Carolus Linnaeus' Systema Naturae divided these animals into only two groups, the Insecta and the now-obsolete vermes (worms). Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, who was
appointed to the position of "Curator of Insecta and Vermes" at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in 1793, both coined the term "invertebrate" to describe such and
divided the original two groups into ten, by splitting off Arachnida and Crustacea from the Linnean Insecta, and Mollusca, Annelida, Cirripedia, Radiata, Coelenterata and
Infusoria from the Linnean Vermes. They are now classified into over 30 phyla, from simple organisms such as sea sponges and flatworms to complex animals such as
arthropods and molluscs.
Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group. (For a full list of animals considered to be invertebrates, see animal.) All the listed phyla are invertebrates along with two of the three
subphyla in Phylum Chordata: Urochordata and Cephalochordata. These two, plus all the other known invertebrates, have only one cluster of Hox genes, while the
vertebrates have duplicated their original cluster more than once.
Within paleozoology and paleobiology, invertebrates big and small are often studied within the fossil discipline called invertebrate paleontology.
Contents
Phyla and common examples
Calopteryx virgo (male), a damselfly
Calopteryx virgo (male), a damselfly
The fossil coral Cladocora from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
The fossil coral Cladocora from the Pliocene of Cyprus.
* Annelida — segmented worms (earthworms, leeches, polychaetes)
* Arthropoda — insects, arachnids, crustaceans
* Cnidaria — jellyfishes, corals, sea anemones, hydras
* Echinodermata — starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers
* Mollusca — squid, snails, bivalves
* Nematoda — round worms
* Nematomorpha — horsehair worms or gordian worms
* Platyhelminthes — flat worms
* Porifera — sponges
7. Your Presentation
• No more than 15 words per
slide
• Introduction - what is an
invertebrate?
• Main - Your invertebrate
• Conclusion - How is your
invertebrate like all
invertebrates?
• Length: Five minutes including
time for questions
8. What else?
• Do you need to bring notes to
the presentation? Will you have
lots of pieces of paper or cue
cards?
• Will it be easier for you to give
out a hand out for extra
information?
• How will you introduce your
presentation - why are you
giving it?
• How can you make sure you do
not go over time?
• How will you deal with nerves?
