A Closer Look at the Animal Kingdom

A Closer Look at the Animal Kingdom — page 3 — A CLOSER Look AT THE ANIMAL KINGDOM Cygnets baby swans walk in the rain at Abbotsbury Swannery in Weymouth England The swannery is home to a herd of 8oo wild swans Matt Cardy Getty Images

A Closer Look at the Animal Kingdom — page 4 — INTRODUCTION I D chitin Arthropods include centipedes spiders scorpions and lobsters Most signifi cantly they include insects More than one million insect species have been identified the largest group within the animal kingdom Vertebrates are ani mals with backbones Some live in the sea such as fish others live on land others like birds take to the air They make up only about 5 percent of all animal species The complexity of their bodies lets vertebrates have bigger more com plex brains The most advanced vertebrates are mammals Only 5 000 species of mam mals exist The blue whale is a mammal that is the largest living

A Closer Look at the Animal Kingdom — page 5 — A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ANIMAL KINGDOM creature on Earth It can grow to be more than 100 feet 30 meters long and weight 300 000 pounds 136 000 kilograms Scientists also study how animals adapt to their environments While some animals are solitary others are more social Bees live in hives Wolves live in packs Some build homes Groundhogs live in complex under ground burrows with connecting tunnels Other animals have adapted themselves to live with humans such as our closest com panions dogs No doubt about it animals large and small including us adapt themselves to survive in many different ways This volume will help you to understand and identify the animals that live around you whether you're in a bustling city a quiet suburb or out in the country and those that popu late our planet Io

A Closer Look at the Animal Kingdom — page 6

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