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What are invertebrates?

Invertebrates are a type of animal which are found all around the world, in lots of different habitats.

Watch: Discover more about invertebrates

Learn about blob and their invertebrate friends.

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Key facts about invertebrates

Invertebrates are animals that don鈥檛 have a spine or backbone inside their body. Minibeasts, like woodlice and centipedes, are all small invertebrates, but not all invertebrates are small. The giant squid can grow to over ten metres long!

Other organisms like you that do have a backbone are called vertebrates.

To protect themselves, some invertebrates, such as snails, have shells. Others have a hard outer layer called an exoskeleton. The first part of this word 鈥榚xo-鈥 means outside, so an exoskeleton is an 鈥榦utside skeleton鈥. Ants, woodlice and spiders all have exoskeletons to keep them safe.

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Invertebrates are divided into five main groups

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 5, , Insects: Beetles, ants and flies All insects have six legs and three body parts.
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Activity 1: Identifying invertebrates

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Activity 2: Quiz

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Activity 3: Hunting for invertebrates

Next time you take a walk around your garden, the countryside or your local park, go on an invertebrate hunt. See how many you can find.

Remember that these are often minibeasts. You might need to look under stones, in trees or bushes, or under fallen leaves.

How could you record your observations?

Minibeast hunt tracker

Minibeast Hunt
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