Year 9 Science · Lesson 3

Animal profiles

What makes a bird a bird?

Kea, Fiordland. Mark Whatmough. CC BY 2.0

A platypus swimming at the surface of a river

Platypus · Ornithorhynchus anatinus

Mammal, bird or reptile?

Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0

The evidence

Which clues matter?

A bill like a duck's
Webbed feet
Lays eggs
Males have a venomous spur on the back legs
Covered in fur
Mothers feed their young milk

Mammal

Fur and milk are features every mammal has. A bill and eggs are not features only birds have.

To place an animal in a group, look for the key features shared by all members of that group.

Animals with a backbone: vertebrates

Five groups, five sets of key features

Mammals

Hair or fur
Young fed on milk
Breathe with lungs
Warm-blooded
Most give birth to live young

Birds

Feathers
Beak and wings (not all fly)
Breathe with lungs
Warm-blooded
Lay hard-shelled eggs

Reptiles

Dry, scaly skin
Breathe with lungs
Cold-blooded
Most lay leathery eggs on land

Amphibians

Moist skin, no scales
Young breathe with gills; adults with lungs and skin
Cold-blooded
Lay eggs in water; metamorphosis

Fish

Scales and fins
Breathe with gills
Cold-blooded
Most lay eggs in water

Kekeno (NZ fur seal): Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0. Tūī: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0. Tuatara: Sid Mosdell, CC BY 2.0. Frog: public domain. Snapper: fir0002, GFDL 1.2.

Animals without a backbone

Insects: the biggest group of all

Most animals have no backbone. Insects alone make up about three quarters of all known animal species, around a million of them.

An exoskeleton: a hard covering on the outside instead of a skeleton inside
Body in three sections: head, thorax, abdomen
Six legs
Most hatch from eggs; many go through metamorphosis

A tree wētā — Tree wētā. Tony Wills, CC BY 2.5

Lab manual p7 · Stile: Project: Animal profiles

Your task: an A5 animal profile poster

Your teacher will give you an animal. Research it and plan your poster on p7.

Common name and scientific name
Animal group, and the features that place it there
Habitat
Conservation status

One structural, one behavioural and one physiological adaptation, and how each helps
A close relative on the Evogeneao tree of life, and how long ago they shared a common ancestor
Your sources

Sneak preview · more in Lesson 5

Three kinds of adaptation

Adaptation: a feature that gives a living thing an advantage in its environment.

Structural

A physical feature of the body. A kea's hooked beak for tearing food.

Behavioural

Something the animal does. Kekeno hunting at night, when squid rise to the surface.

Physiological

A process inside the body. A platypus making venom.

Finding relatives

The Evogeneao tree of life

Find your animal on the outside of the tree. Follow its branch inwards until it meets another animal's branch. That meeting point is their common ancestor.

evogeneao.com: Tree of Life Explorer

Example: humans and eels shared a common ancestor about 400 million years ago. It looked something like a small finned fish.

Next lesson we'll use the tree to join everyone's posters into one wall display.

Research well

Where to look

Aotearoa species

Anywhere in the world

Write down each source as you use it: the site name and the page title.

Alternative task

An insect mihi

A mihi introduces who you are through your whakapapa and your land. Scientific names also show whakapapa: who an organism is related to, and how closely.

Choose an insect and find its full scientific name.
Trace it back: genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom.
Describe where it lives: its tree, awa and maunga.

Activity from the Science Learning Hub, University of Waikato.

I am a Wellington tree wētā. My full name is Hemideina crassidens. I belong to the family Anostostomatidae, with the giant wētā. Through the order Orthoptera I am related to crickets and grasshoppers, and through Insecta to every insect. Through the phylum Arthropoda I am related to spiders and crabs. I live in a hollow in a māhoe tree at Ōtari. My home is Aotearoa.

Before you finish

Poster checklist

Name and picture of your animal
Its animal group, and the features that put it there
One structural, one behavioural and one physiological adaptation, each explained
Where it fits on the Evogeneao tree of life
Your sources

Posters are finished next lesson, so get your research done today.

Exit question

Which group is your animal in?

Name one feature that proves it.

Kekeno, NZ fur seal. Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0

Away today?

Missed this lesson? Catch up here

Copy the key features of the five vertebrate groups, and of insects, into your book.
Ask your teacher which animal you have been given.
Lab manual p7: start filling in the planning table using the sources on slide 9.
Find your animal on the Evogeneao tree of life and note one close relative.
Exit question: which group is your animal in, and what feature proves it?