The reino Animalia It is the kingdom of nature where all animal organisms are included, that is, they are made up of animal cells. Insects, fish, mollusks, humans, dogs, cats, frogs, crocodiles, turtles and many others belong to this kingdom..
It is one of the most abundant and diverse kingdoms in nature, including a huge number of organisms, large and small, and even microscopic. Organisms belonging to this kingdom are characterized by their ability to move, especially in relation to other organisms such as plants..
Animals correspond to all the insects that we see in the garden, including the worms that we find in the ground or under rocks. Corals and anemones, sea sponges and all fish and large cetaceans such as whales are also animals. Of course, the most popular animals are mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians..
Most animals require oxygen to breathe, they need to feed on other living things for nutrients and energy, and they excrete to the environment where all the waste materials they produce are found..
Man is classified together with animals and this, throughout its history, has taken advantage of the help of different animals in innumerable ways to plant, transport, build and keep company.
The Animalia kingdom has a series of characteristics that differentiates it from the rest of the kingdoms of living beings:
All animals are made up of animal cells, which have a number of important characteristics that distinguish them from other cells such as plants, fungi and bacteria..
As eukaryotic cells, some of the fundamental characteristics of animal cells are: the plasma membrane and the absence of a cell wall, the nucleus, lysosomes, the cytoskeleton, peroxisomes, mitochondria, the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi complex, the centrosomes and centrioles, etc..
On the other hand, although there are notable exceptions, most animals are made up of more than one cell, that is, they are multicellular organisms, and these cells are in permanent communication with each other..
It is not true for all animal groups, but generally organisms belonging to the animal kingdom have groups of cells that “assemble” together to form tissues, which fulfill special functions for animal life..
In "more complex" animals, these tissues can form organs, so that in their bodies the physiological tasks are delimited by these organs and the systems they make up. In humans, for example, the nervous, respiratory, circulatory, digestive, excretory, etc. systems are distinguished..
A fundamental characteristic that differentiates animals from organisms like plants, for example, is their form of nutrition. Animals are heterotrophic organisms and must obtain their food from other animals. On the contrary, plants can produce their own food.
Although some adult animals are sessile (unable to move from one place to another), most animals have, at least in one of their stages of the life cycle, the ability to move and move..
This differentiates animals from plants and fungi, to mention two groups of mostly sessile organisms..
Some animals, especially the simplest and smallest ones, generally reproduce by asexual strategies, such as binary fission, for example, which depends on a mitotic division..
However, most organisms in the animal kingdom reproduce sexually, which means that they necessarily go through a period of meiotic cell division, where the genes of two organisms of different sexes mix..
Organisms belonging to the animal kingdom can be classified in many ways: according to their habitat, according to their reproduction, according to their diet, etc., but one of the most popular is according to whether they have bones and backbones or not..
Thus, two large groups of animals have been defined in nature: invertebrates and vertebrates. The first ones do not have bones, but the second ones do and also have a spinal column, just like the one that human beings have in the back.
Invertebrate animals are animals that do not have vertebrae - hence their name - or internal bones. They represent one of the most abundant and diverse groups in the animal kingdom, and generally do not reach large sizes, with the exception of some that live under water..
Although it is a surprising figure, these animals represent more than 90% of all animal species on the biosphere, which means that they are extremely important for the dynamic balance of practically all terrestrial ecosystems..
The classification of these animals is somewhat complex, as there are too many and all very different, however, many authors consider that 21 phyla are the most representative of the entire group, namely:
Humans and other mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians belong to the group of vertebrate animals.
All these have in common the presence of a spinal column and a system of bones that supports their bodies, which is why they are also distinguished from most invertebrates by the large sizes they can reach. These organisms are classified within the Chordata phylum, that is, the chordates.
One of the most special characteristics of these animals, shared by all, is that their bodies are well defined in a head, a trunk or thorax and a tail..
Among vertebrates there are 7 different classes. Let's see what they are:
As we discussed earlier, animals are heterotrophic organisms, which means that they obtain the nutrients and energy they need to survive by eating other living organisms..
According to what type of organisms serve as food, animals can be herbivores, carnivores or omnivores:
Reproduction in the animal kingdom is highly varied: some animals reproduce asexually, while others do so sexually.
For those who reproduce sexually, the fertilization of female sex cells by male can be of two types: internal or external, depending on where both cells are obtained during the reproductive act, within a structure of the female or outside her, respectively.
In addition, in the same group of animals with sexual reproduction there may be different strategies, according to which the following categories of animals have been proposed:
It is a herbivorous mammal that lives in Africa, being the largest land animal, being able to measure up to 4 meters in height. It is distributed in 23 African countries, inhabiting forests, grasslands or savannas.
It is a herbivorous animal that lives in Africa, being the tallest land animal. They are characterized by their long neck that allows them to feed on leaves from the top of the trees, by their spots to camouflage themselves and by their osicones, also called horns..
It is a primate that lives in several countries in Africa, especially in groups and in tropical forests. They have an omnivorous diet, consisting mostly of fruits and insects. They are characterized by their hairless face, their elongated muzzle with a middle parting and their red lips.
It is a good example of a marine invertebrate. It is a cnidarian (jellyfish) characterized by its small size and its lethal venom, considered one of the most lethal on the planet..
It lives mainly in Australian waters and is a carnivorous animal that feeds on small fish, turtles and other aquatic animals..
A species of invertebrate animal belonging to the group of annelids, widely distributed throughout the world. They are reddish worms and can be found in gardens.
This is a species of blue insect, very similar in size and appearance to honey bees. They are important pollinators of native crops and are capable of building nests within branches and trunks of trees..
It is a species of vertebrate belonging to the group of cartilaginous fish (like sharks). It is one of the largest species of stingrays, but it differs from others in that it does not have a poisonous stinger on its tail..
It is a kind of agnate (vertebrate), which means that it lacks jaws. It lives in the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean and has the appearance of a prehistoric animal; they look like eels.
It is a very large amphibian that can weigh up to 1 kg and measure up to 20 cm long. Its introduction in regions where it is not native has caused significant ecological damage, since they do not have natural predators, they reproduce rapidly and their larvae produce toxic substances for the larvae of other organisms..
It is a large species of bird, typical of the African, European and Asian continents. Individuals of this species have pink beaks and legs, with light pink plumage on the body and dark pink on the wings..
It is a small feline, adapted to life as a human pet. They come in different sizes, features and colors.
It is a species of small mammal, of the group of rodents. Very common as a pet or laboratory animal, but apparently endangered in the wild.
It is a species of large land reptile - it can weigh more than 200kg - characterized by its incredible longevity, since it has been estimated that they can live for more than 150 years.
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