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Animals have developed muscles, making them capable of spontaneous movement (see locomotion), more elaborate sensory and nervous systems, and greater levels of general complexity. Unlike plants, animals cannot manufacture their own food and thus are adapted for securing and digesting food.
Animals are multicellular eukaryotes whose cells are bound together by collagen. Animals dominate human conceptions of life on Earth because of their size, diversity, abundance, and mobility. The presence of muscles and mobility is one of the primary characteristics of the animal kingdom.
Animal - Multicellular, Heterotrophic, Eukaryotes: A characteristic of members of the animal kingdom is the presence of muscles and the mobility they afford. The muscles that distinguish animals from plants or fungi are specializations of the actin and myosin microfilaments common to all eukaryotic cells.
The diverse appearance of animals is mostly superficial; the bewildering variety of known forms, some truly bizarre, can be assorted among a mere half-dozen basic body plans. These plans are established during the embryonic stages of development and limit the size and complexity of the animals.
Animals are living things. Like plants, animals need food and water to live. Unlike plants, which make their own food, animals feed themselves by eating plants or other animals. Animals can also sense what goes on around them. Their bodies allow them to move in reaction to their surroundings.
An animal is considered a mammal if it can produce milk. Other features unique to mammals include hair or fur (chemically different from hairlike structures on non-mammals); the malleus, incus, and stapes in the ear; and a diaphragm separating the heart and lungs from the abdomen.
Cow, in common parlance, a domestic bovine, regardless of sex and age, usually of the species Bos taurus. Domestic cows are one of the most common farm animals around the world. The most specialized adaptation that cows (and other ruminants) have is their massive four-chambered stomach.
Primate, in zoology, any mammal of the group that includes the lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans. The order Primates, including more than 500 species, is the third most diverse order of mammals, after rodents (Rodentia) and bats (Chiroptera).
The proverbial ‘king of the beasts,’ the lion has been one of the best-known wild animals since earliest times. Lions are most active at night and live in a variety of habitats but prefer grassland, savanna, dense scrub, and open woodland.
Discover facts about animals by group, by habitat, or by name. Click on a group to learn about the different types of animals that are related to each other. To find out more about how scientists place animals in groups, read the article called biological classification.