8 MAN AND APES. 



All the higher animals (from beasts to 

 fishes) are separated off from lower animals 

 (such as insects, worms, and shell-fish), and 

 form by themselves a great group (or sub- 

 kingdom) called Vertebrata.* The Yerte- 

 brata are divided into five classes : — 1. Mam- 

 malia (beasts). 2. Aves (birds). 3. Reptilia 

 (reptiles). 4. Batrachea (frogs and efts). 



5. Pisces (fishes). 



Each of these classes is subdivided into a 

 number of subordinate groups termed orders, 

 and the class Mammalia may be divided into 

 about twelve of such groups. 



These are (beginning with the lowest) : 

 1. Monotremata (Duck-billed Platypus and 

 Echidna). 2. Marsupialia (pouched beasts). 

 3. FAentata (sloths, ant-eaters, &c). 4. Ungu- 

 lata (hoofed beasts). 5. Proboscidea (elephants). 



6. Sirenia (Dugong and Manatee). 7. Cetacea 

 (whales, porpoises). 8. Carnivora (flesh-eating 



* So called because the animals contained in it always 

 possess a spinal column or back bone, which (except in 

 a few fishes) is made up of a series of separate bony 

 pieces, each of which is called a vertebra. 



