How Can I Infer the Relatedness of Different Animals?

The Animal Kingdom is the largest of the six kingdoms of organisms. With such a large diversity, it may be hard to infer the relatedness of two very different types of animals, such as sponges and human beings. Despite the huge amount of differences, there are some similarities that unite all these organisms in the same kingdom; thus, when trying to infer the relatedness between two different animals, you can try to look for these commonalities.

Instructions

    • 1

      Determine if the organism is multiceullar and eukaryotic. A eukayrotic cell is one that has its DNA in a specific organelle called a nucleus; bacteria do not have their DNA in a nucleus, and thus are classified as prokaryotic. Additionally, all organisms in the Animal Kingdom have multiple cells, which differs them from organisms in the Protist Kingdom (which are eukaryotic but are still single-celled).

    • 2

      See if the cell is missing a cell wall and chloroplast. These cellular organelles are not found in animals; they are found in plants and fungi. (Fungi do not have chloroplast, but they do have a cell wall.)

    • 3

      Observe how the organisms obtain their food. All animals are autotrophs, which means they cannot create their own food but instead must ingest other organisms in order to subsist.

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