to using it in the same manner as he uses the local and 

 common names. 



The chief groups of animals are: PHYLUM, CLASS, 

 Order, Family, Genus and Species. To these are 

 frequently added SUBPHYLUM, SUBCLASS, SUBORDER, 

 Subfamily, Subgenus, Subspecies and Variety, but 

 for present purposes it is not necessary to involve these. 



The Phylum is composed of a great number of 

 individuals that have some outstanding characteristic 

 by which all members of the group can be immediately 

 distinguished. For instance, the Phylum Chordata in- 

 cludes all animals that have a spinal column, although 

 the primitive members of the group do not have an 

 articulated, ossified backbone. All of the Vertebrates 

 belong to this Phylum. However, it is necessary to dis- 

 criminate among Fishes, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds 

 and Mammals, all of which are true Vertebrates. So 

 the Phylum is broken up into somewhat smaller groups 

 known as CLASSES, such as PiSCES, AMPHIBIA, AVES 

 and Mammalia, each of these Classes having some 

 characteristic that no other class possesses. Since con- 

 siderable variation exists within a Class, there must be 

 still more specialized groups in which the characters 

 are less. Thus the Class is divided into ORDERS. The 

 Mammals, for example, include many diverse forms, 

 so the hoofed animals, are placed in one Order; the 

 Rats, Beavers, etc., which are Gnawers, are included in 

 another order, and so iorth. The Orders are, in turn, 

 divided into FAMILIES, so we find the Deer Family a 

 constituent part of the Order of Hoofed animals. 



The Families are divided into GENERA and the 

 Genera are divided into SPECIES, which indicate indi- 

 viduals. The Scientific name of an animal is a com- 



-H S3 ><*- 



