Ebook The cat family

Genre Nonfiction Comprehension Skill Compare and Contrast Text Features · Captions · Labels · Charts · Glossary Science Content Classifying Organisms Scott Foresman Science 5.1 ì<(sk$m)=bdjbih< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U Vocabulary class classify invertebrate kingdom phylum species vertebrate Extended Vocabulary albino domestic melanin nocturnal pride territory tapetum lucidum by Natalie Rompella Picture Credits Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material. The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions. Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd). 2 Corbis; 6 (B) Peter Blackwell/Nature Picture Library; 9 (T) W. Perry Conway/Corbis; 11 (T) Jonathan & Angela Scott/ NHPA Limited; 13 (TR) ©Jerry Young/DK Images; 14 ©Phillip Dowell/DK Images; 15 (T) Andy Rouse/NHPA Limited; 20 (B) Yva Momatiuk/John Eastcott /Minden Pictures. Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the copyright © of Dorling Kindersley, a division of Pearson. ISBN: 0-328-13918-1 Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permission(s), write to Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V010 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 What You Already Know Scientists classify organisms to make communication easier. Since each organism gets its own special name, scientists always know just which one they’re talking about. Today’s classification system divides organisms into groups and then divides each group into smaller groups. The largest group is the kingdom. The other groups, from largest to smallest, are phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. The kingdom most people know best is the animal kingdom. One phylum includes animals that have backbones, or vertebrates. There are many classes of vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and fish. Invertebrates are animals without backbones. Almost all of the animals on our planet are invertebrates. There are many phyla of invertebrates. Insects and spiders belong to the arthropod phylum. Most living things are not animals. Many are plants, which have more than one cell and can produce their own food. Some phyla in the plant kingdom are mosses, ferns, conifers, and flowering plants. Besides plants and animals, most scientists divide life into four other kingdoms. These kingdoms are fungi, protists, eubacteria, and archaebacteria. In this book you will read about cats. Their family is part of the animal kingdom, the vertebrate phylum, and the mammal class. Whales are some of the largest members of the animal kingdom. 2 3 Classifying Cats Animal Kingdom All these organisms are animals. How are a house cat, a cheetah, and a tiger alike? How are they different? It might help to look at how they are classified. Cats are part of the animal kingdom. All animals fit into this group, from insects to whales. All cats belong to the phylum Chordata and share this smaller group with all the other animals with a backbone. Because cats are warm-blooded, have hair, and make milk for their babies, they belong to the class Mammalia. Cats all eat meat, so they are part of the order Carnivora. Finally, cats belong to the family Felidae and are the only animals on this level. A level lower than family is genus. Wildcats and domestic cats belong to the genus Felis. Cats in the genus Panthera include leopards, tigers, and lions. Cheetahs are the only cats that belong to the Acinonyx genus. Phylum Chordata All these animals have spinal cords. Class Mammalia All these animals give milk to their young. Order Carnivora All these animals eat meat. Family Felidae All these animals are cats. Genus Felis This level includes small cats. Domestic cats, along with bobcats, lynxes, and other small cats, are part of the genus Felis. Lions belong to the genus Panthera. 4 5 Cat Features Cats rely on their senses for survival. They have large eyes to spot prey easily. Have you ever seen a cat’s eyes glow? Their eyes tiger skeleton Cats’ bodies are perfect for hunting. They have sharp teeth, called canines, which they use to pierce have a special covering called a cat’s reflective eyes tapetum lucidum that reflects light their prey. Their backbones are flexible for running quickly and landing safely. Cats walk on their toes, helping them to back into their eyes. This helps them see well at night, when many cats hunt. Although cats have difficulty perceiving different colors, the pupils in their eyes are capable of expanding and contracting. This allows cats’ eyes to take in more light when it’s dark and less light when it’s bright. Cats have a great sense of hearing and are able to hear sounds we cannot, such as the tiny squeaks of mice. Cats’ whiskers are important too. They are long, stiff hairs that grow out of a cat’s face. Cats can feel the slightest movement of air over their whiskers. This helps them to find their way in the dark and to know where their prey is. Cats’ bodies are built for hunting. 6 hunt quietly and run fast. One of the most interesting features that cats have is their claws. Cats’ claws can be retracted, or pulled into their paws, when not in use. The claws retract to keep them sharp and protected. They come out whenever a cat makes a scratching movement with its paw. When a cat’s claws come out, its toes splay, or spread out. Splayed toes provide several benefits. By splaying its toes, a cat can grip surfaces better and swat at prey with more power. The hair on a cat’s toes is highly sensitive, like its whiskers. By splaying its toes, a cat picks up information from the different things it touches. 7 ... - tailieumienphi.vn