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The
Virtual
Museum of Natural History’s
International
CURATOR Project
Web
of Life
OUTLINE
OF ANIMAL LIFE WITH LINKS TO DATA SECTIONS
Last
Updated: January 2000
List
of Reviewed Links
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KINGDOM: ANIMALIA
Definition:
Multicellular organisms that lack cell walls, consume other living
things, contain cells with organelles (including mitochondria), and
possess both prokaryotic (in mitochondria) and eukaryotic types of
DNA.
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PHYLUM: Arthropoda
Definition: Animals
with external skeletons made of chitin, segmented bodies with jointed
appendages, and an open circulatory system. This is the largest group
of named animals on earth, including the insects, spiders, centipedes,
scorpions, crabs, lobsters, and horseshoe crabs.
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PHYLUM: Chordata
Definition: Animals that possess the
following characters at some point in their lives: 1) pharyngeal gill
slits, 2) hollow dorsal nerve chord, 3) a flexible dorsal vertebral
rod, and 4) a post-anal tail.
Non-Amniote
Classes:
Fishes
Amphibia
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SUPERCLASS: Tetrapoda
Primarily terrestrial
vertebrates, but includes taxa (amphibians, whales, sea snakes) that
have become aquatic or marine.
Classes:
Amphibia
Reptilia
Mammalia
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SUPERCLASS: Amniota
Definition: Animals that reproduce
via an embryo with three specialized extra-embryonic membranes: 1)
allantois, 2) amnion, and 3) yolk sac. Additionally, they possess 12
pairs of cranial nerves.
Classes:
Reptilia
Mammalia
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