Animal Kingdom: Biology, Classification, Topics, Overview & MCQs

Edited By Irshad Anwar | Updated on Oct 26, 2024 01:06 PM IST

The animal kingdom includes all the diverse multicellular, heterotrophic organisms that derive their food sources from other organisms. The animal kingdom classification varies from simple sponges to complex mammals and a large number of species have been classified based on common characteristics and evolutionary relationships. This helps one understand the diversity of the animal kingdom. This chapter is a part of the Class 11 Biology. The study of the animal kingdom class 11 is important for students appearing for exams like NEET, AIIMS, and paramedical entrance tests as this holds a significant weightage in the competitive exams.

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Important Topics of Animal Kingdom
Overview of the Chapter Animal Kingdom
Classification of Animal Kingdom
11 Phylum of Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom NEET MCQs
Tips, Tricks, and Strategies for Preparing for Animal Kingdom
Types of Questions and Weightage of Animal Kingdom in Exams
Prescribed Books for Animal Kingdom
Recommended Video On Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom: Biology, Classification, Topics, Overview & MCQs

Important Topics of Animal Kingdom

Classification of Animal Kingdom
Organ System Patterns in Animals
Important Concepts - Symmetry, Tissue and Organ Level of Organisation

Overview of the Chapter Animal Kingdom

The Animal Kingdom includes a wide diversity of multicellular organisms that obtain their food from other living organisms. Animals range from a simple form, like sponges, to a complex one, like mammals. Classification is by morphological characteristics, including the kind of body structure, type of body cavity, and whether they have a backbone or not. This kingdom appropriately demonstrates the diversity and adaptability of life on Earth-from insects to birds and mammals.

Classification of Animal Kingdom

Characteristics of animals are used to classify them. They are found in algae, plants, and fungi that don't have rigid cell walls. Some are also heterotrophic, meaning they digest their food within internal chambers, which sets them apart from algae and plants. These species, with the exception of certain life stages, have another distinguishing feature: they are motile.

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Protozoa

Protozoa are a type of eukaryotic organism that is unicellular and has certain animal-like features like movement and predation. Protozoa eat through osmotrophy, which involves absorbing nutrients through cell membranes, or phagocytosis, which involves engulfing food particles with the help of pseudopodia.

Bryozoans

Bryozoans are typically thought of as moss animals. They are filter feeders that use a crown of tentacles laced with cilia to sieve food particles out of the water. They live in humid environments, glacial waters, and marine trenches. The majority are colonial, with one genre being solitary. Individuals in bryozoans are called zooids, and they are not totally self-contained species. Auto zooids are responsible for feeding and excretion in all colonies.

Vertebrates

Animals with backbones are known as vertebrates. Jawed vertebrates and jawless fish are among them. Sharks, ray fish, and bony fish are examples. Clad, a bony fish, is also classified as an amphibian, a reptile, a mammal, and a bird. From the frog Paedophryne amanuensis to the blue whale, the size of existing vertebrates varies. Amphibians are land-based organisms that migrate to water to reproduce. Scutes coat the skin of reptiles. Mammals can be found on land, in water, or in the air. Birds have streamlined pathways and are coated with feathers.

NCERT Notes Subject Wise Link:

Organ Level of Organization: Animal tissues of similar capacity are categorized into shaped organs at the organ level of organization. Every organ is designated for a specific function. For Eg: Platyhelminthes.

Tissue Level of Organization: Animal cells demonstrate active division among themselves at the tissue level of organization.

Tissues are formed when cells that execute the same purpose work together.

Organ framework Level of Organization: The organ framework level of organization is seen in organisms where organs establish the shape of functional frameworks and each framework has its own physiological potential.

Cellular Level of Organization: The cellular level of organization is made up of animals with cells that are lumped together as free cells.

Organ Systems Patterns

The variations in organ systems in different animals are described below:

Circulatory System: There are two types of circulatory systems open and closed.

Open Circulatory System: The blood is pushed out of the heart in an open type circulatory system. Mollusca and arthropods, for example.

Closed Circulatory System: Blood flows via a series of vessels called capillaries, arteries, and veins in this type of circulatory system.

Digestive system: The digestive system is divided into two categories. There are two types of digestive systems: complete and incomplete.

Complete Digestive System: There are two entrances to the outside of the body in this sort of digestive system, a back-end, and a mouth. Chordates and arthropods, for example.

Incomplete Digestive System: There is only one opening to the outside of the body, which functions as both the back-end and the mouth. Platyhelminthes, for example.

There are three types of symmetry in the human body. Asymmetrical, Bilateral, and Radial

Bilateral Symmetry: Bilaterally symmetrical animals have bodies that may be divided into indistinguishable left and right portions.

Spiral Symmetry: Animals have a tendency to have spiral symmetry. Coelenterates, Echinoderms, and Ctenophores are examples.

Asymmetrical Symmetry: Asymmetry is the absence of symmetry in its final form. That is, a few animals cannot be divided into two equal portions by any plane passing through the organism's focus point. Consider the Sponges.

11 Phylum of Animal Kingdom

The 11 phyla of the animal kingdom are the major divisions that classify animals on the basis of body structure, complexity, and history of evolution.

Here's a short description of each phylum:

Porifera: Porous bodies, multicellular animals designated as sponges, which have no proper tissues and organs.

Cnidaria: Jellyfish and corals; Aquatic animals exhibiting radial symmetry, and possessing specialized stinging cells, the cnidocytes.

Platyhelminthes: These are the flatworms which include planarians and tapeworms. The body is dorso-ventrally flat and bilaterally symmetrical with no true coelom.

Nematoda: Roundworms with elongated, cylindrical bodies, varied in habitats and more often free-living or parasitic.

Annelida: Segmented worms found in earthworms and leeches, annotated for having bodies segmented by true coelom.

Arthropoda: The largest phylum, including insects, arachnids, and crustaceans are distinguished through having exoskeleton, jointed appendages, and segmented bodies.

Mollusca: A phylum of animals including snails, clams, and octopuses with a soft body often covered with a shell of hard chitinous material and a muscular foot.

Echinodermata: Marine animals such as sea stars and sea urchins are examples of animals that have radial symmetry and an odd water vascular system.

Chordata: Includes animals that at some stage of their development have a notochord, an example is vertebrates including mammals birds and fish. Other closely related invertebrates belong to the same class.

Hemichordata: Marine worms with a notochord and pharyngeal gill slits; they are the closest relatives to chordates.

Coelenterata: A synonym often used for the class Cnidaria; these are extremely simple aquatic organisms which have a sac-like body with only one opening from which they enter and which excretes and feeds through it.

Animal Kingdom NCERT PDF and Notes

For students studying the class 11 animal kingdom, one of the very important sources is the NCERT PDF on the animal kingdom, which contains clear explanations of the concept along with diagrams and flowcharts. Other than that, notes of the animal kingdom along with other study materials should be used properly for speedy revision.

Ncert Books Link:

Animal Kingdom Class 11 Notes and Solutions

Animal Kingdom class 11 notes provide an excellent summary of all that is important in the chapter. The notes are important both in the board examinations and competitive examinations. For more help, the students can look up the Animal Kingdom class 11 NCERT solutions, which give answers to questions set as exercises in the textbooks.

NCERT Exemplar Solutions Subject-wise link:

Animal Kingdom NEET MCQs

Animal Kingdom is an important chapter for NEET aspirants as many questions are asked from here. Animal kingdom NEET questions practice and solving animal kingdom MCQs daily or almost daily boosts up the speed along with accuracy. Some frequently asked question types are:

Match the phyla with examples
Features of animal body plans
Relevance of the categories to evolution

Since these questions also check the conception of the subject and retention, Animal kingdom NEET MCQ practice is a must.

1. Which of the following is a characteristic feature of Phylum Annelida?
a) Radial symmetry
b) Jointed appendages
c) Segmented body
d) Pseudocoelom

Ans: c) Segmented body

2. In which of the following animal groups does the notochord remain throughout life?
a) Mammals
b) Amphibians
c) Protochordates
d) Reptiles

Ans: c) Protochordates

3. Which phylum includes organisms with radial symmetry and a water vascular system?
a) Arthropoda
b) Annelida
c) Echinodermata
d) Mollusca

Ans: c) Echinodermata

4. Which class of Arthropoda is known for having three pairs of legs?
a) Crustacea
b) Arachnida
c) Myriapoda
d) Insecta

Ans: d) Insecta

5. Which one of the following is NOT a feature of class Mammalia?
a) Mammary glands
b) Exoskeleton made of chitin
c) Three middle ear bones
d) Presence of hair or fur

Ans: b) Exoskeleton made of chitin

The Animal Kingdom Class 11 questions and answers section provides a test for students to check their knowledge at the completion of the chapter. It includes short answer questions, multiple-choice questions, and long answer questions that can be used for board exams as well as for entrance exams.

Tips, Tricks, and Strategies for Preparing for Animal Kingdom

Given below are the tips, tricks and strategies to prepare for Animal Kingdom:

Mnemonics

Mnemonics is helpful to remember the hierarchy of the animal kingdom classification. You can, for example, use a mnemotechnic: "Prince Charles Only Fishes Good Species" to remember the order: Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.

Study Aids

Prepare flowcharts or tables of the flow chart of the animal kingdom classification and the 11 phyla of the animal kingdom.

Use diagrams to differentiate between numerous animal body structures.

Multimedia

Watch videos or animations which describe the classification of the animal kingdom and describe the characteristics of different phyla.

Flashcards

Use flashcards to memorize the key characteristics of each phylum and the major groups within the animal kingdom. Flashcards are particularly useful in practising animal kingdom NEET MCQs.

NCERT Solutions Subject-wise link:

Types of Questions and Weightage of Animal Kingdom in Exams

The table below indicates the weightage and types of questions asked on the Animal Kingdom in various exams:

Exam Type	Types of Questions	Weightage
CBSE	Short answer questions on classification, characteristics of animal groups, and examples from different phyla.	5-6%
NEET	MCQs cover classification systems, body plans, life cycles, key features, and the evolutionary significance of animals.	3-5%
AIIMS	Assertion and reason questions focus on animal classification, anatomical features, and physiological adaptations.	3-4%
Nursing Entrance Exams	Scenario-based questions on animal kingdom classification, animal behaviour, and their relevance in healthcare.	2-3%
Paramedical Exams	True/False questions and multiple-choice questions on characteristics of animal groups, ecological roles, and behaviour.	1-3%

Prescribed Books for Animal Kingdom

The main and most recommended learning resource for Animal Kingdom is the NCERT Biology class 11 textbook covering all concepts as per the CBSE syllabus. For further understanding, "Trueman's Elementary Biology, Volume 1" can be referred to. The other useful book is "Pradeep's Biology" which is also known for its detailed explanation and plenty of solved examples. You can access a variety of videos, articles and mock tests on this chapter from the careers360 platform.