BRITANNICA

Animal

ORGANISM

WRITTEN BY: Virginia C. Maiorana Leigh M. Van Valen

See Article History

Alternative Title: Animalia

ARTICLE CONTENTS

meerkat: dominate female

meerkat: dominate female

A dominant female meerkat expelling a subordinate from the pack.

Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz

Animal, (kingdom Animalia), any of a group of multicellular eukaryotic organisms (i.e., as distinct from
bacteria, their deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is contained in a membrane-bound nucleus). They are
thought to have evolved independently from the unicellular eukaryotes. Animals differ from members of
the two other kingdoms of multicellular eukaryotes, the plants (Plantae) and the fungi (Mycota), in
fundamental variations in morphology and physiology. This is largely because animals have developed
muscles and hence mobility, a characteristic that has stimulated the further development of tissues and
organ systems.

Fallow deer (Dama dama)

Fallow deer (Dama dama)

F. Siedel—Bruce Coleman Inc.

freshwater jellyfish

freshwater jellyfish
Freshwater jellyfish (Craspedacusta sowerbyi).

U. S. Geological Survey

Animal

QUICK FACTS

KEY PEOPLE

Charles Elton

Carl E. Akeley

Spencer Fullerton Baird

Karl P. Schmidt

Ross Granville Harrison

Victor Ernest Shelford

William Harvey

Georges Cuvier

John James Audubon

Gordon L. Woods

RELATED TOPICS

Animal learning

Dinosaur

Animal development

Reptile

Animal reproductive system

Fish

Passeriform

Primate

Animal behaviour
Insect

Animals dominate human conceptions of life on Earth not simply by their size, abundance, and sheer
diversity but also by their mobility, a trait that humans share. So integral is movement to the conception
of animals that sponges, which lack muscle tissues, were long considered to be plants. Only after their
small movements were noticed in 1765 did the animal nature of sponges slowly come to be recognized.

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In size animals are outdone on land by plants, among whose foliage they may often hide. In contrast, the
photosynthetic algae, which feed the open oceans, are usually too small to be seen, but marine animals
range to the size of whales. Diversity of form, in contrast to size, only impinges peripherally on human
awareness of life and thus is less noticed. Nevertheless, animals represent three-quarters or more of the
species on Earth, a diversity that reflects the flexibility in feeding, defense, and reproduction which
mobility gives them. Animals follow virtually every known mode of living that has been described for the
creatures of Earth.

Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) breaching.

Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) breaching.

© Francois Gohier

Animals move in pursuit of food, mates, or refuge from predators, and this movement attracts attention
and interest, particularly as it becomes apparent that the behaviour of some creatures is not so very
different from human behaviour. Other than out of simple curiosity, humans study animals to learn
about themselves, who are a very recent product of the evolution of animals.

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The Animal Kingdom

Animals evolved from unicellular eukaryotes. The presence of a nuclear membrane in eukaryotes
permits separation of the two phases of protein synthesis: transcription (copying) of deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) in the nucleus and translation (decoding) of the message into protein in the cytoplasm.
Compared to the structure of the bacterial cell, this gives greater control over which proteins are
produced. Such control permits specialization of cells, each with identical DNA but with the ability to
control finely which genes successfully send copies into the cytoplasm. Tissues and organs can thus
evolve. The semirigid cell walls found in plants and fungi, which constrain the shape and hence the
diversity of possible cell types, are absent in animals. If they were present, nerve and muscle cells, the
focal point of animal mobility, would not be possible.

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