invertebrate

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invertebrate

invertebrate (ĭnˌvûrˈtəbrət, –brātˌ), any animal lacking a backbone. The invertebrates include the tunicates and lancelets of phylum Chordata, as well as all animal phyla other than Chordata. The major invertebrate phyla include: the sponges (Porifera), coelenterates (Cnidaria), echinoderms (Echinodermata), flatworms (Platyhelminthes), roundworms (Nematoda), segmented worms (Annelida), mollusks (Mollusca), and arthropods (Arthropoda). Invertebrates are tremendously diverse, ranging from microscopic wormlike mezozoans (see Mezozoa) to very large animals such as the giant squid. Approximately 95% of all the earth's animal species are invertebrates; of these the vast majority are insects and other arthropods. Invertebrates are important as parasites and are essential elements of all ecological communities.

Bibliography

See A. Kaestner, Invertebrate Zoology (3 vol., 1967–70); R. D. Barnes, Invertebrate Zoology (5th ed. 1987); R. Buchsbaum et al., Animals without Backbones (3d ed. 1987).

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invertebrate

[in′vərd·ə‚brət]
(invertebrate zoology)
An animal lacking a backbone and internal skeleton.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

invertebrate

any animal lacking a backbone, including all species not classified as vertebrates
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
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Aquatic invertebrate and vertebrate communities of ephemeral stream ecosystems in the arid Southwestern United States

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