Salient Features and Classification of Animals

Animal kingdom classification is useful for figuring out how all living things are related. Species are categorised according to the Linnaeus approach based on shared traits.

Carolus (Carl) Linnaeus, a Swedish naturalist, devised this method of animal kingdom classification in the 1700s. The Linnaeus Method, also known as Linnaean Taxonomy, establishes a taxonomic hierarchy as well as binomial nomenclature, which assigns a two-word scientific name to each animal species. By combining the genus and species, this method of assigning scientific names to animals is often rooted in Latin. Humans, for example, are categorised as homo sapiens, while wolves are classed as Canis lupus.

The more characteristics that a group of animals has in common, the more distinct that animal classification group is. Nine branching categories are used to characterise each species. The following is the most common way of animal classification:

• Domain
• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Suborder
• Animal Families
• Genus
• Species

Classification of living: The six different kingdoms

The following are the features of the animal kingdom:

Animalia: A kingdom of complex multicellular organisms that cannot create their nourishment. All living and extinct animals are found in this kingdom. Elephants, whales, and humans are only a few examples.

Plantae: Autotrophic organisms are complex and multicellular organisms that make their sustenance through photosynthesis. Trees, flowers, and grass are examples.

Fungi: Unlike plants, multicellular creatures do not manufacture their sustenance. Moulds, mushrooms, and yeast are examples.

Protista: Single-celled creatures with a higher level of complexity than eubacteria and archaebacteria. Algae and amoeba are two examples.

Eubacteria: Single-celled organisms can be found in a variety of places, including yoghurt and your intestines. This kingdom is made up of all bacteria that aren’t archaebacteria.

Archaebacteria: The oldest living organisms that have been discovered. They are single-celled organisms that live in hazardous and scorching environments such as thermal vents and hot springs.

Classification of Animal Tissue

Tissue is a collection of related cells with a common origin that work together to accomplish a certain function. The cells of the developing embryo differentiate into three key embryonic tissues called germ layers, namely ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm, early in development. Next, these germ layers differentiate into the many cell types and tissues that make up a vertebrate’s body.

A small gap filled with extracellular or intercellular fluid surrounds most animal cells. This creates the cell’s immediate environment. The cell obtains all of the materials it requires from this fluid and transfers the waste materials it produces to this fluid.

There are four main types of tissues in adult vertebrates and most invertebrates. Epithelial, muscular, connective, and neurological tissues are among them.

Epithelial: An epithelium is a layer of cells that covers an internal or external surface (Greek Epi – upon; the – nipple).

Epithelial tissue is a continuous sheet made up of compactly organised cells with no intercellular matrix. Desmosomes and gap junctions are junctional complexes that help maintain cells together.

It can regenerate throughout one’s life. It does not have any blood vessels. The basement membrane, which is non-cellular and contains the matrix protein collagen, is where epithelial cells are found. It has two types -simple and compound epithelial tissue.

Connective Tissue: A connective tissue is a type of tissue that either supports other tissues or connects one type of tissue to another, such as muscle to bone or bone to bone. Areolar tissue, adipose tissue, reticular tissue, cartilage, bone, tendons, ligaments, blood, and lymph are all part of this system. The connective tissue is made up of mesodermal cells.

Muscle Tissue: Muscle tissue is made up of long cells known as muscle fibres (myocytes), which can contract when triggered by nerve signals. The muscle fibres are actin & myosin. 

The muscular tissue is made up of mesodermal cells. They account for around 40% of the body weight in mammals. It has three types – skeletal muscle tissue, smooth muscle tissue and cardiac muscle tissue.

Nervous Tissue: Nervous tissue is a specialised tissue having the properties of excitability and conductivity, which means that the cells of this tissue are specialised for receiving stimuli and reacting to stimuli by conducting impulses to various organs in the body that cause responses to the stimuli. Ectodermal tissue makes up the nervous system. The brain, spinal cord & nerves are all composed of nervous tissue. Each neuron has the following 2 parts: Cyton or cell body and the Cell Process has dendron and axon.

Conclusion

Despite differences in structure and shape across animals, there are essential similarities among them in terms of cell organisation, body symmetry, coelom type, and digestive, circulatory, and reproductive system patterns. These characteristics are used to classify animals and in the classification of the animal kingdom, and some of them have been covered in this article.

Tissue is a group of cells having a shared origin that works together to perform a specific purpose. Early in development, the cells of the developing embryo differentiate into three major embryonic tissues called germ layers: ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. Following that, these germ layers differentiate into the many cell types and tissues that make up the body of a vertebrate.

Adult vertebrates and most invertebrates have four different types of tissues. They include epithelial, muscular, connective, and neurological tissues.