<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invertebrate</span>

Invertebrate

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</span><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: InvertebratesTemporal range  Cryogenian to Pr...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox biota biota-infobox mobile-collapse-element"> 
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<th colspan="2" class="section-header notheme" style="background:rgb(235,235,210);">Invertebrates<div><small>Temporal range: <a href="/en/Cryogenian" title="Cryogenian" class="wl">Cryogenian</a> to <a href="/en/Holocene" title="Holocene" class="wl">Present</a>, <div class="noprint"><span style="display:inline-block;">665–0<span>&nbsp;</span>Ma</span> <div id="Timeline-row" style="margin: 4px auto 0; clear:both; width:250px; padding:0px; height:18px; overflow:visible; border:1px #666; border-style:solid none; font-size:small; position:relative; z-index:0;">
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<div style="position:absolute; height:6px; text-align:center; background-color:rgb(154,217,221); left:220.50773980251px; width:29.492260197491px;" class="notheme"><a href="/en/Phanerozoic" title="Phanerozoic" class="wl"><span style="color:black;">Pha.</span></a></div>
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<div style="position:absolute; height:6px; text-align:center; background-color:rgb(247,53,99); left:113.15766426554px; width:107.35007553697px;" class="notheme"><a href="/en/Proterozoic" title="Proterozoic" class="wl"><span style="color:black;">Proterozoic</span></a></div>
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<div style="position:absolute; height:6px; text-align:center; background-color:rgb(240,4,127); left:31.052262824864px; width:82.105401440676px;" class="notheme"><a href="/en/Archean" title="Archean" class="wl"><span style="color:black;">Archean</span></a></div>
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<div style="position:absolute; height:6px; text-align:center; background-color:rgb(174,2,126); left:0px; width:31.052262824864px;" class="notheme"><a href="/en/Hadean" title="Hadean" class="wl"><span style="color:white;">Had'n</span></a></div>
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<td colspan="2" class="image-section"><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/File:Invertebrate_montage_(2022).jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Invertebrate_montage_(2022).jpg"><img loading="lazy"alt="Diversity of various invertebrates from different phyla (including a invertebrate of the phylum Chordata)" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Invertebrate_montage_%282022%29.jpg/260px-Invertebrate_montage_%282022%29.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="3264" data-file-height="1836" data-file-type="bitmap" height="146" width="260" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Invertebrate_montage_%282022%29.jpg/390px-Invertebrate_montage_%282022%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Invertebrate_montage_%282022%29.jpg/520px-Invertebrate_montage_%282022%29.jpg 2x"></a></span></td></tr>
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<td colspan="2" class="image-section"><b>Left to right</b>: <i><a href="/en/Chrysaora_fuscescens" title="Chrysaora fuscescens" class="wl">Chrysaora fuscescens</a></i> (<a href="/en/Cnidaria" title="Cnidaria" class="wl">Cnidaria</a>), <i><a href="/en/Fromia_indica" title="Fromia indica" class="wl">Fromia indica</a></i> (<a href="/en/Echinodermata" title="Echinodermata" class="mw-redirect wl">Echinodermata</a>), <a href="/en/Caribbean_reef_squid" title="Caribbean reef squid" class="wl">Caribbean reef squid</a> (<a href="/en/Mollusca" title="Mollusca" class="wl">Mollusca</a>), <i><a href="/en/Drosophila_melanogaster" title="Drosophila melanogaster" class="wl">Drosophila melanogaster</a></i> (<a href="/en/Arthropoda" title="Arthropoda" class="mw-redirect wl">Arthropoda</a>), <i><a href="/en/Aplysina" title="Aplysina" class="wl">Aplysina lacunosa</a></i> (<a href="/en/Porifera" title="Porifera" class="mw-redirect wl">Porifera</a>), <i><a href="/en/Pseudobiceros_hancockanus" title="Pseudobiceros hancockanus" class="wl">Pseudobiceros hancockanus</a></i> (<a href="/en/Platyhelminthes" title="Platyhelminthes" class="mw-redirect wl">Platyhelminthes</a>), <i><a href="/en/Hirudo_medicinalis" title="Hirudo medicinalis" class="wl">Hirudo medicinalis</a></i> (<a href="/en/Annelida" title="Annelida" class="mw-redirect wl">Annelida</a>), <i><a href="/en/Polycarpa_aurata" title="Polycarpa aurata" class="wl">Polycarpa aurata</a></i> (<a href="/en/Tunicata" title="Tunicata" class="mw-redirect wl">Tunicata</a>), <i><a href="/en/Milnesium_tardigradum" title="Milnesium tardigradum" class="wl">Milnesium tardigradum</a></i> (<a href="/en/Tardigrada" title="Tardigrada" class="mw-redirect wl">Tardigrada</a>).</td></tr>
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<th colspan="2" class="section-header notheme" style="background:rgb(235,235,210);"><a href="/en/Taxonomy_(biology)" title="Taxonomy (biology)" class="wl">Scientific classification</a><span class="plainlinks" style=".. style .."><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/Template:Taxonomy/Animalia" title="Edit this classification" class="image wl"><img loading="lazy"alt="Edit this classification" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Red_Pencil_Icon.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="16" data-file-height="16" data-file-type="bitmap" height="16" width="16"></a></span></span></th></tr>
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<td>(unranked):</td>
<td><a href="/en/Filozoa" title="Filozoa" class="wl">Filozoa</a></td></tr>
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<td>Kingdom:</td>
<td><a href="/en/Animal" title="Animal" class="wl">Animalia</a></td></tr>


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<th colspan="2" class="section-header notheme" style="background:rgb(235,235,210);">Groups included</th></tr>
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<ul><li>All animal groups not in subphylum Vertebrata</li></ul></td></tr>

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<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Animals without a vertebral column</div>
<p><b>Invertebrates</b> are a <a href="/en/Paraphyletic" title="Paraphyletic" class="mw-redirect wl">paraphyletic</a> group of <a href="/en/Animal" title="Animal" class="wl">animals</a> that neither possess nor develop a <a href="/en/Vertebral_column" title="Vertebral column" class="wl">vertebral column</a> (commonly known as a <i>backbone</i> or <i>spine</i>), derived from the <a href="/en/Notochord" title="Notochord" class="wl">notochord</a>. This is a grouping including all <a href="/en/Animal" title="Animal" class="wl">animals</a> apart from the <a href="/en/Chordata" title="Chordata" class="mw-redirect wl">chordate</a> <a href="/en/Subphylum" title="Subphylum" class="wl">subphylum</a> <a href="/en/Vertebrate" title="Vertebrate" class="wl">Vertebrata</a>. Familiar examples of invertebrates include <a href="/en/Arthropod" title="Arthropod" class="wl">arthropods</a>, <a href="/en/Mollusk" title="Mollusk" class="mw-redirect wl">mollusks</a>, <a href="/en/Annelid" title="Annelid" class="wl">annelids</a>, <a href="/en/Echinoderm" title="Echinoderm" class="wl">echinoderms</a> and <a href="/en/Cnidarian" title="Cnidarian" class="mw-redirect wl">cnidarians</a>.</p>

<p>The majority of animal species are invertebrates; one estimate puts the figure at 97%.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span>  Many invertebrate <a href="/en/Taxon" title="Taxon" class="wl">taxa</a> have a greater number and variety of species than the entire subphylum of Vertebrata.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-isbn0-412-61390-5_2-0"><a href="#cite_note-isbn0-412-61390-5-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span> Invertebrates vary widely in size, from 50<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="/en/Micrometre" title="Micrometre" class="wl">μm</a> (0.002 in) <a href="/en/Rotifer" title="Rotifer" class="wl">rotifers</a><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-Howey_3-0"><a href="#cite_note-Howey-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[3]</span></a></span> to the 9–10 m (30–33 ft) <a href="/en/Colossal_squid" title="Colossal squid" class="wl">colossal squid</a>.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="#cite_note-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[4]</span></a></span></p>

<p>Some so-called invertebrates, such as the <a href="/en/Tunicate" title="Tunicate" class="wl">Tunicata</a> and <a href="/en/Lancelet" title="Lancelet" class="wl">Cephalochordata</a>, are more closely related to vertebrates than to other invertebrates. This makes the invertebrates <a href="/en/Paraphyly" title="Paraphyly" class="wl">paraphyletic</a>, so the term has little meaning in <a href="/en/Taxonomy_(biology)" title="Taxonomy (biology)" class="wl">taxonomy</a>.</p>




.mw-parser-output table.biota-infobox{text-align:center;width:200px;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output table.biota-infobox th.section-header{text-align:center}.mw-parser-output table.biota-infobox td.section-content{text-align:left;padding:0 0.25em}.mw-parser-output table.biota-infobox td.list-section{text-align:left;padding:0 0.25em}.mw-parser-output table.biota-infobox td.taxon-section{text-align:center;padding:0 0.25em}.mw-parser-output table.biota-infobox td.image-section{text-align:center;font-size:88%}.mw-parser-output table.biota-infobox table.taxonomy{margin:0 auto;text-align:left;background:transparent;padding:2px}.mw-parser-output table.biota-infobox table.taxonomy tr{vertical-align:top}.mw-parser-output table.biota-infobox table.taxonomy td{padding:1px} Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column , derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate subphylum Vertebrata. Familiar examples of invertebrates include arthropods, mollusks, annelids, echinoderms and cnidarians. The majority of animal species are invertebrates; one estimate puts the figure at 97%. 