3. WHAT IS A MINI BEAST??
Those are just a few well-known examples of the
thousands and thousands of types of ‘creepy-crawlies’
that exist all over the world. Officially, minibeasts are
called invertebrateswhich are animals without a
backbone, and these are the most numerous type of
animal in the world.
In Britain alone there are over 25,000 species of
invertebrates known. Unlike vertebrates (animals with a
backbone) they do not have a skeleton inside. This makes
them soft and bendy, and because of this, some of them
have hard shells to live in. Some, like insects and spiders,
have a thin, strong outside covering called an
exoskeleton. This means they have protection for their
bodies and they have legs, and often wings, which let
them move more quickly and easily than other minibeasts.
4. A minibeast, also called aninvertebrate, is a
creature without either a backbone or an internal
skeleton. Humans have backbones and internal
skeletons so are called vertebrates.
There are many different kinds of
invertebrates, around 40,000 species in
Britain alone, and millions across the rest of
planet Earth.
Butterflies, moths, dragonflies, centipedes,
spiders, scorpions, snails, beetles, crabs and
worms are all invertebrates.
About 97% of creatures on Earth are
invertebrates and without them we would not be
able to survive. They help to pollinate plants,
recycle waste material, provide food for other
creatures such as birds and reptiles and much,
much more.
Invertebrates have been living on earth for
about 550 million years and have adapted to
survive in different habitats, from woodlands to
desserts.
There are several different types of invertebrates,
each with their own characteristics.
Find out more on the
