Animal Science | The 5 Kingdoms

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The 5 Kingdoms of Nature

Animals are one part of the ecosystem and living things on this planet. Besides Fungi and Plants, which are more familiar to us, there are two other, more hidden, species here. Bacteria and Protists are microscopic small, that’s why we are rarely aware of them. Scientists still debating if there are more than these 5 groups.

Scientists found so far more than 2 million different animals on this planet. But they believe that there are even more than 10 million of them living here, which we didnt explored yet.

The different characteristics in each kingdom make it easier to choose which species is in which kingdom. There are 6 categories: Nutrition, Cell organization, Cell type, Respiration, Reproduction & Movement.

Nutrition= Autotrophic (makes its own food) or Heterotrophic(feeds on other living things)

Cell organization = Unicellular (only 1 cell) or Multicellular (2 or more cells)

Cell type = Eukaryotes (genetic material is surrounded by a membrane) or Prokaryotes (lacking a membrane)

Respiration= Aerobic (needs oxygen) or Anaerobic (doesn’t use oxygen)

Reproduction= Sexual, Asexual, or through Spores

Movement = Self-moving or Static

Some aquatic animals dont move much and often are seen as plants, but animals and plants function in a totally different way. Same with Fungi and Plants. Their differences are not so obvious compared to animals, but most animals are easy to recognize in how they move and react to their environment.

◾ Animal Kingdom
We also distinguish the Animal Kingdom into two categories. Vertebrates & Invertebrates. It’s the most evolved of all of the kingdoms. These animals are multi-celled, heterotrophic, eukaryotes, aerobic, sexual, and self-moving.

Vertebrates= Mammals (9%), Birds (19%), Reptiles (13,5%), Amphibians(10%), Fishes (48,5%)

Invertebrates= Arthropods (60,5%), Cnidarians (0,5%), Worms (3%), Echinoderms (0,5%), Mollusks (5%), others (30,5%)

◾ Plant Kingdom
Trees, plants, and other species of vegetation are one of the oldest kingdoms and are characterized by their immobile, multicellular, and eukaryotic nature. They are essential for life on Earth because they can release oxygen through photosynthesis. Reproduction may be through the sexual or asexual form.

◾ Fungi Kingdom
Besides the species of mushrooms and toadstools, it also has yeasts and molds in it. They are multicellular, aerobic, heterotophic, eukaryotes, and also have chitin in their cell walls so they feed off other living things. Also, their spores mainly reproduce them.

◾ Protista Kingdom
This is the most primitive one. It includes those eukaryotic organisms that are not deemed to be animals, plants, or fungi.

◾ Monera Kingdom
These species are microscopic and belong to the groups of archaea and bacteria. They are presented in all habitats and are made up of single-cell things with no defined nucleus. Bacteria are mostly aerobic and heterotrophic. Archaea is usually anaerobic.