There are so many creatures living on Earth, some are very similar to each other and some couldn’t be more different, so because of this we sort them into different groups.

All creatures are sorted into two main groups, vertebrates and invertebrates. Vertebrates are creatures that have a backbone. This means they have a skeleton, including a spine inside supporting their body (like we do.) While invertebrates don’t have a backbone, which means they don’t have a skeleton inside their body at all. This means they might be all squishy or they might have protection, such as a shell on the outside of their body.

Vertebrates and invertebrates are then split into further groups, depending on their similarities and differences to other creatures. Vertebrates include most of the big wild animals you’d find around the world and are the creatures we will be learning about here. These include mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds. Many invertebrates can be found living in the sea or are insects and you can learn about these in other places on the website.