Do you know what an animal is? Animals are multicellular, multifaceted organisms in the kingdom Animalia. With the exception of a few fishes, all animals breathe oxygen, consume organic matter, can move freely, can reproduce sexually, move their limbs, and can sense emotions. Animals have brains just like people have, but humans have much more complex brains than animals do. Although some animals look like they have brains, they most likely do not have them, as animal brains are extremely small compared to human brains.
There are two major sections of the animal kingdom: animalia and eukarya. Animalia includes fishes, amphibians, reptiles, mollusks, corals, and other aquatic organisms. Eukarya includes plants and animals which obtain their nourishment from soil, air, and plants (e.g., algae, chlorophyll). Most animals belong to one or both groups of animalia, whereas only a few eukarya are classified as protozoans, protocorms, meiosis, metazoans, protozoa, etc. Protists and metazoans are bacteria and algae, respectively.
Animals are greatly influenced by philosophy. Almost all animals share a common philosophy: animals think, feel, and act according to animal minds. Philosophy influences the behavior of animals on a number of levels including habitat, diet, sex, relationships, society, and species. People are influenced by philosophy on a number of levels including beliefs about God, the devil, ethics, and spirituality; individuals act based upon the teachings of religion. People who do not have any belief in religion often consider animal rights activists to be silly, nuts, or insane; many people base their opinions of those who support animal rights on a few articles written by vegetarians, or animal rights activists.
The philosophy of animals is expressed in many scientific studies on animal consciousness, intelligence, behavior, physiology, and cell specialization. Philosophical researchers focus on animal minds, cells, and how animals behave. In fact, animal behavior is largely studied through experiments on animals and cells that are isolated from humans. Scientists observe, analyze, and reproduce results from experiments on animals that cannot speak, but can be observed by scientists.
Researchers examine animal cells, eukaryota, single-celled algae, protoplasts, prokaryotes, metazoans, protozoa, and algae using various methods, such as nuclear magnetic resonance, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, fluorescence, immunohistochemistry, biochemical analysis, quantitative analysis, crystal violet, and fluorescence imaging. Scientists have identified, named, or mapped several hundred types of eukaryotic organelles. They use these eukaryotic structures to study the specific traits of individual cells or organelles. Scientists have found that some animals have similarities in the way they organize information, build nests, create sounds, secrete chemical reactions, or live in their environment.
Organelles are the master units of animal cells that are made up of millions of smaller particles called cytoplasts and thousands of ribosomes. Cytoplasts are the threads that connect different organelles together. The structure of an organism’s cell wall depends on the type of cell it is, the size of the organelles, and how long it has been alive. The cell wall of a virus is very different from that of an animal. Many of the characteristics of these living organisms may be studied using the combination of microscope, x-ray, and other techniques.