Question

summarize the general characteristics of kingdom animalia

Answer 1

General Characteristics of Kingdom Animalia

The Animalia Kingdom is a diverse group of organisms that share certain characteristics. Members of this Kingdom are also known as Metazoa or Multicellular animals. This kingdom posses maximum number and most diverse types or orgamisms. The important Characteristisc of this kingdom are :

• All animals are multicellular, eukaryotic heterotrophs —they have multiple cells with mitochondria and they rely on other organisms for their nourishment.
  > Multicellular, which means that they are made up of more than one cell.
  > Heterotrophic, which means they have to get their own food. Because they cannot make their own food, members of the Animalia Kingdom must ingest, or eat, other organisms.
  > Eukaryotes: this is the type of cells animals have. Eukaryote cells are more complex than the simpler prokaryote cells found in bacteria.
  
• The members of this kingdom are made up of cells that do not possess cell walls.
• Their cells does not posses central vacuole. Instead,small vacuole may occur inside the cell.
• Plastid and photosynthetic pigments are also absent in the cell.
  
  
• The bodies of most animals (all except sponges) are made up of cells organized into tissues, each tissue specialized to some degree to perform specific functions.
• Level of organization may vary among different groups, it may be celular, tisssue or Organ-system level of organization
• Body form is regular and organs are internal
  
• Growth is definite, although well defined growing points are absent
  
• All animals are motile (able to spontaneously move their bodies) during at least part of their life cycle, but some animals, such as sponges, corals, mussels, and barnacles, later become sessile.
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• Animals have holozoic or ingestive mode od nutrition. A few animals are however, parasitic. The live on or inside the bodies of other eukaryotes.
  
• With very few exceptions, animals respire aerobically.
  
• Most reproduce sexually, by means of differentiated eggs and sperm. The development of most animals is characterized by distinctive stages, including a zygote, formed by the product of the first few division of cells following fertilization; a blastula, which is a hollow ball of cells formed by the developing zygote; and a gastrula, which is formed when the blastula folds in on itself to form a double-walled structure with an opening to the outside, the blastopore.