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Invertebrate
 
 
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An invertebrate is an animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
 lacking a vertebral column
Vertebral column

In human anatomy, the vertebral column is a column of 24 vertebrae, the sacrum, intervertebral discs, and the coccyx situated in the dorsum aspect of the torso, separated by spinal discs....
. The group includes 98% of all animal species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 — all animals except those in the Chordate
Chordate

Chordates are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, at some time in their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail....
 subphylum
Subphylum

In life, a subphylum is a taxonomic rank intermediate between phylum and superclass . The rank of subdivision in plants and fungi is equivalent to subphylum....
 Vertebrata
Vertebrate

Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata, chordates with Vertebras or Vertebral columns. The grouping sometimes includes the hagfish, which have no vertebrae, but are genetically quite closely related to lampreys, which do have vertebrae....
 (fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
, reptile
Reptile

Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia, are air-breathing, cold-blooded vertebrates that have skin covered in scale as opposed to hair or feathers....
s, amphibian
Amphibian

Amphibians , such as frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians, are cold-blooded animals that metamorphose from a juvenile, water-breathing form to an adult, air-breathing form....
s, bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s, and mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
s).

Carolus Linnaeus
Carolus Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus was a Sweden botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern alpha taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology....
' Systema Naturae
Systema Naturae

The book Systema Naturae was one of the major works of the Sweden botanist, zoologist and physician Carolus Linnaeus. Its full title is Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis or translated: "System of nature through the three kingdoms of...
 divided these animals into only two groups, the Insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
a and the now-obsolete vermes
Vermes

Vermes is an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals. Linnaeus divided the group as follows:...
 (worm
Worm

A worm is a common name given to a diverse group of invertebrate animals that have a long, soft body and no legs. There are hundreds of thousands of species of worms, 2,700 of these are earthworms....
s). Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de la Marck, usually known as Lamarck, was a France soldier, natural history, academia and an early proponent of the idea that evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with Naturalism ....
, who was appointed to the position of "Curator of Insecta and Vermes" at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle

The Mus?um national d'Histoire naturelle is the France national museum of natural history....
 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
Mollusca

MolluscsSpelled mollusk in the USA; the spelling "mollusc" is preferred by some authors, see the reasons given by . are animals belonging to the Phylum Mollusca....
, Annelida, Cirripedia, Radiata
Radiata

The Radiata are the Symmetry #Radial symmetry animals of the Eumetazoa subregnum. The term Radiata has had various meanings in the history of classification....
, Coelenterata
Coelenterata

Coelenterata is an obsolete long term encompassing two animal phylum, the Ctenophora and the Cnidaria . The name comes from the Greek language "koilos" , referring to the hollow body cavity common to these two phyla....
 and Infusoria
Infusoria

Infusoria is an obsolete collective term for minute aquatic creatures like ciliates, Euglena, protozoa, and unicellular algae that exist in freshwater ponds....
 from the Linnean Vermes.






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An invertebrate is an animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
 lacking a vertebral column
Vertebral column

In human anatomy, the vertebral column is a column of 24 vertebrae, the sacrum, intervertebral discs, and the coccyx situated in the dorsum aspect of the torso, separated by spinal discs....
. The group includes 98% of all animal species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 — all animals except those in the Chordate
Chordate

Chordates are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, at some time in their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail....
 subphylum
Subphylum

In life, a subphylum is a taxonomic rank intermediate between phylum and superclass . The rank of subdivision in plants and fungi is equivalent to subphylum....
 Vertebrata
Vertebrate

Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata, chordates with Vertebras or Vertebral columns. The grouping sometimes includes the hagfish, which have no vertebrae, but are genetically quite closely related to lampreys, which do have vertebrae....
 (fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
, reptile
Reptile

Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia, are air-breathing, cold-blooded vertebrates that have skin covered in scale as opposed to hair or feathers....
s, amphibian
Amphibian

Amphibians , such as frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians, are cold-blooded animals that metamorphose from a juvenile, water-breathing form to an adult, air-breathing form....
s, bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s, and mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
s).

Carolus Linnaeus
Carolus Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus was a Sweden botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern alpha taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology....
' Systema Naturae
Systema Naturae

The book Systema Naturae was one of the major works of the Sweden botanist, zoologist and physician Carolus Linnaeus. Its full title is Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis or translated: "System of nature through the three kingdoms of...
 divided these animals into only two groups, the Insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
a and the now-obsolete vermes
Vermes

Vermes is an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals. Linnaeus divided the group as follows:...
 (worm
Worm

A worm is a common name given to a diverse group of invertebrate animals that have a long, soft body and no legs. There are hundreds of thousands of species of worms, 2,700 of these are earthworms....
s). Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de la Marck, usually known as Lamarck, was a France soldier, natural history, academia and an early proponent of the idea that evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with Naturalism ....
, who was appointed to the position of "Curator of Insecta and Vermes" at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle

The Mus?um national d'Histoire naturelle is the France national museum of natural history....
 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
Mollusca

MolluscsSpelled mollusk in the USA; the spelling "mollusc" is preferred by some authors, see the reasons given by . are animals belonging to the Phylum Mollusca....
, Annelida, Cirripedia, Radiata
Radiata

The Radiata are the Symmetry #Radial symmetry animals of the Eumetazoa subregnum. The term Radiata has had various meanings in the history of classification....
, Coelenterata
Coelenterata

Coelenterata is an obsolete long term encompassing two animal phylum, the Ctenophora and the Cnidaria . The name comes from the Greek language "koilos" , referring to the hollow body cavity common to these two phyla....
 and Infusoria
Infusoria

Infusoria is an obsolete collective term for minute aquatic creatures like ciliates, Euglena, protozoa, and unicellular algae that exist in freshwater ponds....
 from the Linnean Vermes. They are now classified into over 30 phyla, from simple organisms such as sea sponge
Sea sponge

The sponges or poriferans are animals of the phylum Porifera . Their bodies consist of an outer thin layer of cells, the pinacoderm and an inner mass of cells and skeletal elements, the choanoderm....
s and flatworm
Flatworm

The flatworms, known in scientific literature as Platyhelminthes are a Phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, Segmentation , soft-bodied invertebrate animals....
s to complex animals such as arthropod
Arthropod

Arthropods are animals belonging to the Scientific classification Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others....
s and molluscs
Mollusca

MolluscsSpelled mollusk in the USA; the spelling "mollusc" is preferred by some authors, see the reasons given by . are animals belonging to the Phylum Mollusca....
.

Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group. (For a full list of animals considered to be invertebrates, see animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
.) All the listed phyla are invertebrates along with two of the three subphyla
Subphylum

In life, a subphylum is a taxonomic rank intermediate between phylum and superclass . The rank of subdivision in plants and fungi is equivalent to subphylum....
 in Phylum Chordata
Chordate

Chordates are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, at some time in their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail....
: Urochordata and Cephalochordata. These two, plus all the other known invertebrates, have only one cluster of Hox genes
Homeobox

A homeobox is a DNA sequence found within genes that are involved in the regulation of patterns of development in animals, fungus and plants. Genes that have a homeobox are called homeobox genes and form the homeobox gene family....
, while the vertebrates have duplicated their original cluster more than once.

Within paleozoology
Paleozoology

Paleozoology, also spelled as palaeozoology , is the branch of paleontology or paleobiology dealing with the recovery and identification of multicellular animal remains from geological contexts, and the use of these fossils in the reconstruction of prehistoric natural environments and paleoecologys....
 and paleobiology
Paleobiology

Paleobiology is a growing and comparatively new discipline which combines the methods and findings of the natural science biology with the methods and findings of the earth science paleontology....
, invertebrates big and small are often studied within the fossil
Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or trace fossil of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous Rock formations and sedimentary rock layers is known as the fossil record....
 discipline called invertebrate paleontology
Invertebrate paleontology

Invertebrate paleontology is sometimes described as Invertebrate paleozoology and/or Invertebrate paleobiology.Whether it is considered to be a subfield of paleontology, paleozoology, and/or paleobiology, this discipline is the scientific study of prehistoric invertebrates by analyzing invertebrate fossils in the g...
.

Phyla and common examples


  • Echinodermata
    Echinoderm

    Echinoderms are a Phylum of Marine animals . Echinoderms are found at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone.Aside from the problematic Arkarua, the first definitive members of the phylum appeared near the start of the Cambrian period....
     — sea stars
    Sea star

    Sea stars, also known as starfish, are echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. The names "sea star" and "starfish" are sometimes differentiated, with "starfish" used in a broader sense to include the closely related brittle stars, which make up the class Ophiuroidea, as well as excluding sea stars which do not have five ar...
    , sea urchins
    Sea urchin

    Sea urchins are small, spiny, globular creatures that compose most of class Echinoidea. They are found in oceans all over the world. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from 3 to 10 cm across....
    , sea cucumbers
    Sea cucumber

    Holothuroidea is a class of marine animals with an elongated body and leathery skin, which is found on the sea floor worldwide. Many holothurian species and genera, informally known as sea cucumbers, are targeted for human consumption....
  • Arthropod
    Arthropod

    Arthropods are animals belonging to the Scientific classification Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others....
    a — insects
    Insect

    Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
    , arachnids
    Arachnid

    Arachnids are a class of Arthropod invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. All arachnids have eight legs, but some exceptions are of some species having the first pair legs convert to sensory function and harvest mite larvae have only 3 pairs of legs....
    , crustaceans
    Crustacean

    Crustaceans are a large group of arthropods, comprising almost 52,000 described species , and are usually treated as a subphylum . They include various familiar animals, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles....
  • Nematoda
    Nematode

    The "roundworms" or "nematodes" are the most diverse phylum of body cavity, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 80,000 have been described, of which over 15,000 are parasite....
     — round worms
  • Mollusca
    Mollusca

    MolluscsSpelled mollusk in the USA; the spelling "mollusc" is preferred by some authors, see the reasons given by . are animals belonging to the Phylum Mollusca....
     — squid
    Squid

    Squid are marine cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, Symmetry #Bilateral_symmetry, a mantle , and cephalopod arms....
    , snails
    Snail

    The word snail is a common name for almost all members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled animal shells in the adult stage. When the word snail is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails....
    , bivalves
  • Annelida
    Annelid

    The annelids, collectively called Annelida , are a large Scientific classification of animals comprising the segmented worms, with about 15,000 modern species including the well-known earthworms and leeches....
     — segmented worms (earthworms
    Earthworm

    Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. The earthworm is the most known worm in America, and other countries....
    , leeches
    Leech

    Leeches are annelids comprising the subclass Hirudinea. There are fresh water, terrestrial, and marine leeches. Like the Oligochaeta, they share the presence of a clitellum....
    , polychaete
    Polychaete

    The Polychaeta or polychaetes are a class of annelid worms, generally marine. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin....
  • Platyhelminthes — flat worms
  • Rotifera
  • Acoelomorpha
    Acoelomorpha

    The Acoelomorpha are a phylum of animals with Planula features and formerly considered to be in flatworm, but recently classified by Jaume Bagu?? and Marta Riutort as a separate phylum, Basal among the Bilateria....
  • Ctenophora -- Comb jellies
  • Cnidaria
    Cnidaria

    Cnidaria Cnidarians were for a long time grouped with Ctenophores in the phylum Coelenterata, but increasing awareness of their differences caused them to be placed in separate phyla....
     — jellyfishes
    Jellyfish

    Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. They have several different morphologies that represent several different cnidarian classes including the Scyphozoa , Staurozoa , Cubozoa , and Hydrozoa ....
    , corals
    Coral

    Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
    , sea anemones
    Sea anemone

    Sea anemones are a group of water dwelling, predation animals of the order Actiniaria; they are named after the anemone, a terrestrial flower....
    , hydras
    Hydra (genus)

    Hydra is a genus of simple fresh-water animals possessing symmetry #Radial symmetry. Hydras are predatory animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria and the class Hydrozoa....
  • Porifera — sponges


See also

  • Marine invertebrates
    Marine invertebrates

    The term "marine invertebrates" is used to describe animals found in a Marine environment which are invertebrates: lacking a notochord. In order to protect themselves, they may have evolved a Animal shell or a hard exoskeleton, but this is not always the case....


Further reading

  • Hyman, L. H.
    Libbie Hyman

    Libby Henrietta Hyman , was an American zoologist.Born in Des Moines, Iowa, she was the daughter of Joseph Hyman and Sabina Neumann. Hyman's father, a Polish/Russian Jew, adopted the surname when he immigrated to the United States as a youth....
     1940. The Invertebrates (6 volumes) New York : McGraw-Hill. A classic work.
  • Anderson, D. T. (Ed.). (2001). Invertebrate zoology (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Brusca, R. C., & Brusca, G. J. (2003). Invertebrates (2nd ed.). Sunderland, Mass. : Sinauer Associates.
  • Miller, S.A., & Harley, J.P. (1996). Zoology (4th ed.). Boston: WCB/McGraw-Hill.*Ruppert, E. E., Fox, R. S., & Barnes, R. D. (2004). Invertebrate zoology: a functional evolutionary approach. Belmont, CA: Thomas-Brooks/Cole.


External links