Animal Kingdom Animalia Subphylum - An Overview

Organisms are formed of groups of complex cells in which organs carry out life processes in an orderly fashion. Robert Harding Whittaker, an American ecologist, prepared a classification of organisms. He divided the organisms into five kingdoms, namely Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia. Even before that several attempts were made to classify organisms into more simple ways of classification. The classification of the animal kingdom has evolved with time. Animal kingdom is one of the most important topics of the biology chapter Animal Kingdom. The chapter carries a weightage of 7% of the total marks in NEET and 2 to 3% of the weightage of other entrance exams like Paramedical and pharmacy.

Kingdom Animalia and its historical context

Kingdom Animalia consists of multicellular, heterotrophic, and eukaryotic organisms. They obtain food from autotrophs (plants) and other animals and nutrition by ingesting plant or animal material.

However, the classification of the kingdom was not an easy task for the scientist. Several changes took place till the final classification came into existence. Some of the historical context regarding animal classification is mentioned below in the table.

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General Characteristics of the Kingdom Animalia

All the organisms present in the kingdom Animalia have their specific character. But the overall Kingdom also has some of the common characters which makes them fall into this category. Some of the common characteristics of the kingdom Animalia are discussed below:

• One of the largest kingdoms with more than 8.7 million species.

• The animal kingdom has different levels of organisms like multicellular as well as heterotrophic organisms in the same category.

• Most of the organisms in the animal kingdom have sexual reproduction as their primary mode of reproduction.

• The cells lack outer cell walls like plants but some of them also have cell walls present in them.

• Some of the organisms in the animal kingdom are sensitive to external stimuli.

• Most of the animals are deployed which means there are two copies of each gene present.

Characteristics of Organisms in the Animal Kingdom

Apart from the common characteristics each of the organisms possesses their characteristics. To characterize them in a better way they are divided into different phyla which are discussed below along with their key features.

Significance of Animal Kingdom

The animal kingdom has a great diversity of species which contributes to maintaining the ecological balance of life on Earth. It is also important to ensure that all the biological processes are functioning effectively. Some of the major points regarding the significance of the animal kingdom are discussed below:

• Animals in the animal kingdom are integral parts of the ecosystem and have their roles such as herbivores, carnivores and omnivores which regulate the entire population dynamics.

• Maintains the energy flow between all the ecosystems.

• Biodiversity within the animal kingdom is also responsible for several ecological processes such as nutrient cycling decomposition and habitat formation.

• Many animals such as birds insects and mammals are also part of the very important process of pollination and seed dispersal.

• Decomposers are also part of the animal kingdom which play an important role in decomposition and nutrient recycling back into the soil.

Tips, Tricks, and Strategies to Prepare for Animal Kingdom

It's hard to remember everything in a single go. We made the entire problem easy. Some of the tricks regarding Animal Kingdom are given below which you can use to memorize the important points.

ANIMAL KINGDOM: Important Phyla

P: Porifera
C: Cnidaria
P: Platyhelminthes
N: Nematoda
A: Annelida
A: Arthropoda
M: Mollusca
E: Echinodermata
H: Hemichordata
C: Chordata

Classification of Functions in Animal Kingdom

• H: Habitat Diversity

• S: Symmetry

• M: Metamorphosis

• F: Feeding

• R: Reproduction

• L: Locomotion

Types of Questions Asked on Animal Kingdom

During the preparation of the exam, there are different types of questions asked about Animal Kingdom in different forms. The table given below contains the different patterns of questions asked in different exams.

Weightage of Animal Kingdom in Different Entrance Exams

It is important to keep weightage of the topic in mind throughout the preparation. The weightage of Animal Kingdom in different exams is mentioned below in the table:

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