Biology · Biological Classification · NEET
Holozoic means the animal takes solid food INSIDE its body (ingestion) and then digests it in an internal cavity, like your stomach and intestine. This is different from fungi, which digest food OUTSIDE the body and then absorb it. NCERT clearly says the mode of nutrition in Animalia is 'holozoic - by ingestion of food'. For NEET, link three words together: Animalia = heterotrophic + holozoic + ingestion.
No. Animalia cells LACK a cell wall. This is a key NEET point because it separates animals from plants (cellulose wall), fungi (chitin wall) and monera (peptidoglycan wall). Only Animalia and Protozoa have naked cells with no wall. So if a question says 'multicellular, heterotrophic, no cell wall' the answer is Animalia.
Animals store food reserves as GLYCOGEN or FAT. Plants store STARCH. This is a very common NEET trap: do not write starch for animals. Simple trick - 'Glycogen for Guys/aniGals' (animals), Starch for plants. NCERT states Animalia 'store food reserves as glycogen or fat'.
Because animals show the highest level of body organisation. Monera is only cellular, Protista is cellular (eukaryotic), Fungi/Plantae reach tissue/organ level, but Animalia reaches tissue/organ/ORGAN-SYSTEM level. Higher animals also have elaborate sensory and neuromotor (nervous) systems. That extra organ-system level makes Animalia the most complex in Whittaker's ladder - the exact point NEET 2025 tested.
Plantae are autotrophic - they make their own food using chlorophyll and sunlight. Animalia are heterotrophic - they cannot make food, so they eat plants or other animals (directly or indirectly depending on plants). Both are multicellular eukaryotes, but the nutrition and cell wall differ: plants have a cellulose wall, animals have no wall.
Yes. All animals are multicellular AND eukaryotic (their cells have a true nucleus). But NCERT adds a subtle point: they do not all have the same cell arrangement - sponges show only cellular level, while higher animals show organ-system level. So 'multicellular' is fixed for all, but the level of organisation increases as you go higher.
Each of the following characteristics represents a Kingdom proposed by Whittaker. Arrange the following in increasing order of complexity of body organization. A. Multicellular heterotrophs with cell wall made of chitin. B. Heterotrophs with tissue/organ/organ system level of body organization. C. Prokaryotes with cell wall made of polysaccharides and amino acids. D. Eukaryotic autotrophs with tissue/organ level of body organization. E. Eukaryotes with cellular body organization.
Chrysophytes, Euglenoids, Dinoflagellates and Slime moulds are included in the kingdom:
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
Multicellular, eukaryotic, no cell wall, heterotrophic with holozoic nutrition, food stored as glycogen or fat, highest body organisation (up to organ-system level), most can move, and sexual reproduction is by copulation followed by embryological development.
Holozoic nutrition - animals ingest solid food into an internal cavity and digest it inside the body. They are heterotrophs that depend directly or indirectly on plants for food.
Both are heterotrophic and multicellular, but Fungi have a chitin cell wall and digest food OUTSIDE the body (absorptive), while Animalia have NO cell wall and digest food INSIDE the body (holozoic/ingestion).
Glycogen and fat. This differs from plants, which store starch. It is a frequently tested NEET point.
No. All animals are multicellular, but organisation varies: sponges show cellular level, while higher animals reach organ-system level. Only Animalia reaches the organ-system level, which makes it the most complex kingdom.
