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Animals
This assemblage of vertebrates and invertebrates includes multicellular, eukaryotic, heterotrophic organisms. Many major classified groups are illustrated here plus behavior, reproduction, traces, structures and extinct species.

Amphibians

Salamanders, frogs, and the legless caecilians are semi-aquatic and rely heavily on their moist skin for gas exchange. These animals stay close to damp environments as their eggs lack a hard shell and dehydrate quickly in dry air.

  • Amphibians

Arachnids & Relatives

This group includes spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks, horseshoe crabs and extinct trilobites. All shown here have chelicerae, hooked appendages which look like claws and hold food or are used by some species to inject venom into prey.

  • Arachnids & Relatives

Behavior

Ethology is researched by observing an organism’s natural instincts, competitive displays, survival tactics, learning habits, and group living. Understanding animal behavior is a key to ensuring the proliferation of each species.

  • Behavior

Birds

Vastly diversified, all share hollow bones, toothless mouths, and some have modified feathers for flotation and heat retention. Their close relationship to dinosaurs earns them a most highly debated evolutionary history.

  • Birds

Centipedes & Millipedes

Often assumed to be insects and their identity can be additionally confusing by their numerous amount of legs. They have their own sub-phylum where centipedes have one pair legs per segment and millipedes have two pairs per segment.

  • Centipedes & Millipedes

Cnidarians

Corals, anemones, and jellyfish are aquatic species that can harpoon their food with specialized cells. As juveniles they can all swim, while some corals skeletons form the foundation of hardened coral reefs.

  • Cnidarians

Crustaceans

These arthropods contain about 50,000 species including crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp and barnacles. Primarily aquatic organisms they have very specialized appendages, two pairs of antennae, an exoskeleton, and grow by molting.

  • Crustaceans

Echinoderms

These slow marine, animals include starfish, sand dollars, sea urchins, crinoids, and sea cucumbers. They possess a radial body, an endoskeleton, and vascular system which aides motility, feeding and gas exchange.

  • Echinoderms

Extinct Animals

Some species lived long ago and are no longer found alive on Earth. Most of these organisms are only known from fossil records preserved mostly in sedimentary rock, while some are discovered in Asphaltum or tar pits.

  • Extinct Animals

Fish

This group of gill bearing creatures includes sharks, lampreys, eels, rays, sea horses, and the coelacanth. While some of these species were the first vertebrates to have jaws, they all play a vital role in filling niches of aquatic ecosystems.

Insects

The most numerous, widely distributed, and diversified creatures include beetles, ants, bees, butterflies, crickets and flies. They contribute to our ecosystems as beneficial pollinators, destructive crop raiders, and a vital food source.

Mammals

This air breathing group of vertebrates contains varied animals like whales, giraffes, duck-billed platypus, bats and humans. All exhibit hair, endothermic metabolisms, mammary glands, differentiation of teeth, and internal fertilization.

Mollusks

These soft-bodied organisms, sometimes surrounded by a tough shell (such as snails and clams), sometimes moving freely (such as squid and slugs), live in diverse habitats.

Reproduction

Reproduction exists as internal embryonic development or by egg, asexual or sexual, and internal or external. Other behavioral events often embellish the process such as calling, courtship, and sparing for mates.

Reptiles

This ectothermic and mostly terrestrial group includes snakes, turtles, lizards, and alligators. These creatures differ from amphibians in that they have lungs, waterproofed scales, lay hard shelled amniotic eggs and fertilize internally.

Signs, Structures, etc

Animals leave clues, such as tracks, waste, nests, and marks which can identify species. These traces also determine important aspects of an animal’s behavior including reproductive, health, grouping, and dietary practices.

Sponges

Sponges filter food from water, and fix themselves to the floor, rocks, or reefs where water currents consistently bring nutrients. This collection currently contains images of the dried skeletal structures that support these animals.

Unidentified Animals

If you have specialized knowledge about the animals found in this folder, the photographer would love to know what it is! To help us make a positive identification, please contact us at images@nbii.gov.