Animals are a major group of organisms, classified as the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. In general they are multicellular, capable of locomotion, responsive to their environment, and feed by consuming other organisms. Their body plan becomes fixed as they develop, usually early on in their development as embryos, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on.
The word "animal" comes from the Latin word animal, of which animalia is the plural, and ultimately from anima, meaning vital breath or soul.
Characteristics
Animals have several characteristics that set them apart from other living things. Animals are
eukaryotic and usually
multicellular (although see
Myxozoa), which separates them from
bacteria and most
protists. They are
heterotrophic, generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from
plants and
algae. They are also distinguished from plants, algae, and
fungi by lacking
cell walls.
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USATODAY.com Nation - Top StoriesAlaska Gov. Palin, ex-VP nominee, resigning Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:42:09 -0000
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential nominee, abruptly announced she is resigning from office at ...
Outgoing Alaska Gov. Palin plans to stay visible Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:20:13 -0000
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin plans to remain extremely visible and will give serious consideration to running for president in 2012, ...
Four Michigan fishermen missing on Lake Erie Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:50:34 -0000
The U.S. Coast Guard and others are searching Lake Erie for four Michigan fishermen whose 19-foot (6-meter) boat set sail a day ...
U.S. study: New flu inefficient in attacking people Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:29:20 -0000
With swine flu continuing to spread around the world, researchers say they have found the reason it is so far more a series ...
IOUs spell uncertainty for Calif. small businesses Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:21:50 -0000
Business consultant Katrina Kennedy has taken her young son out of preschool and put a family vacation on hold. Dairyman Mike ...
Study: Few survive cardiac arrest, even with hospital CPR Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:54:40 -0000
The odds of surviving cardiac arrest after getting CPR in a hospital are slim and have not improved in more than a decade, a ...
The Economist: United StatesUnemployment insurance: More money, more problems Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:54:22 -0000
A few Republicans are holding out against more unemployment insuranceMARK SANFORD, the Republican governor of South Carolina, is a strict fiscal disciplinarian. When Washington announced its economic stimulus plans last year, he opposed the whole idea. At the time his state’s unemployment rate was among the highest in the nation, and in December the fund that doles out unemployment benefits ran out of money. As the months went on South Carolina’s situation only worsened and Mr Sanford accepted bits of federal money here and there, complaining all the while. And in June the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered him to request the unemployment money.Critics accused him of grandstanding with an eye to the 2012 presidential election—at least until his chances were sunk by a scandal involving adultery, Argentina and the Appalachian Trail: Mr Sanford may have to stand down as governor. But Haley Barbour, the Republican governor of Mississippi, is ready to take his spot. Earlier this year he said he did not want federal money for unemployment insurance because it would force Mississippi to pony up for people who are “not willing” to take a full-time job. Mississippi’s malingering rate has soared to 9.6%, but Mr Barbour has not relented. ...
State budgets in crisis: Happy new year Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:54:22 -0000
The pain of balancing budgetsTHE mantra in Washington, DC, is simple: spend billions now, pay later. Congress has been crafting ambitious plans for energy, health care and transport. But the mood in state capitals has been different. Forty-six states had a deadline of June 30th to pass their budgets. Just as important, those budgets had to be balanced. With the sole exemption of Vermont America’s state governments, unlike the federal one, are not allowed to run deficits. For many states June was an agonising month. Every state but two, commodity-rich North Dakota and Montana, has faced a deficit this year. One legislator in New Jersey described her state as “functionally bankrupt”. More than 5,000 Illinoisans gathered on June 23rd to protest against cuts to social services, with a child placed in a coffin for dramatic effect. In California, which faces a $24 billion gap, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor, sent the leader of the state Senate a metallic pair of bull testicles to urge him to cut spending. ...
Captain Hudson’s journey: Fair to foul and back again Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:54:22 -0000
The Hudson River, 400 years onAS AMERICA celebrates its birthday on July 4th, New York is celebrating the discovery of its Hudson river. The Dutch East India Company hired Henry Hudson, an English explorer, to find a north-west passage to Asia. He failed: the route defied all explorers until Roald Amundsen in 1906. But Hudson’s journey of 1609 up the river that would later bear his name led to a valuable trade in furs and eventually to settlement by the Dutch. His shipmate recorded abundant fish and that the surrounding lands “were as pleasant with Grasse and Flowers, and goodly Trees, as euer they had seene, and very sweet smells came from them.” The smells unfortunately, have not always been so sweet. The Hudson has been exploited and abused. Factories used the river as a dumping-ground. At one time a 20-mile stretch of the Hudson had little or no aquatic life. “You could tell what colour the GM plant in Sleepy Hollow was painting its cars by the colour of the water,” recalls Alex Matthiessen, president of Riverkeeper, an environmental watchdog. Since the 1960s, groups like Riverkeeper and advocates such as Pete Seeger, a folk singer, have fought to restore the river’s ecosystem. The 1972 Clean Water Act helped deter polluters. And in 1984 the federal Environmental Protection Agency classified 200 miles of the river as a Superfund site, eligible for special attention. As a result of all this the river has begun to look like its old self. Water quality has improved. Some fish populations look healthier. The Bald Eagle once again nests nearby. ...
A year at the Supreme Court : Fairness for firefighters Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:54:21 -0000
The court grapples with baffling racial laws, and much elseTHEY celebrated with a Stars-and-Stripes-iced cake. On June 29th the Supreme Court ruled in favour of white and Hispanic firefighters who were discriminated against by the city of New Haven, Connecticut. Six years ago the city put them through an exam to decide whom to promote. When no black scored highly enough, it scrapped the test and promoted no one. The passed-over firefighters sued. The city said the test must have been unfair. By a 5-4 majority, the Supreme Court disagreed, finding it both fair and relevant. The ruling added a little clarity to America’s incomprehensible racial laws. Employers sometimes face a Catch-22: they are barred from treating employees differently because of their race, but forbidden from treating everyone the same if that has a “disparate impact” on one group. ...
A comedian in the Senate: Eight months later Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:54:21 -0000
Al Franken prevails at last in MinnesotaON JUNE 30th, 238 days after the election last November, Minnesota’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Al Franken is entitled “to receive the certificate of election as United States Senator from the State of Minnesota”. The margin of victory was just 312 votes, after months of recounts, court hearings and general frustration. Norm Coleman, his Republican opponent, announced that he would not appeal to the United States Supreme Court, which might have dragged things out even longer. Not everybody in Minnesota has been gripped by the fight. One town was so bored that it planned to choose a winner by staging a race between two piglets named after the candidates. But national Democrats have been waiting breathlessly for the contest to be resolved. When Mr Franken is seated, probably in the week of July 6th, he will become the Senate’s 60th Democrat, giving his party the number it needs to break a Republican filibuster, so long as they all turn up (two of them are seriously ill) and vote as they are told to. ...
Climate change, health care and the budget: A squeaker, with more to come Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:54:21 -0000
So many challenges. So little spare cashHAVING campaigned in poetry, Barack Obama doubtless expected to govern in prose. But it is arithmetic that threatens to cramp his ambitions. Last week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its long-term budget outlook. If current policies are continued, federal debt held by the public will rise from 41% of GDP at the end of 2008 to 87% by 2020, and (theoretically) to a staggering 716% by 2080. Meanwhile, Mr Obama is trying to save the planet and reshape America’s health-care system. The first task will be fantastically expensive. The second does not have to be, but probably will be. A president who refused to put off unpleasant decisions, as Mr Obama promised during his inauguration, would be honest about all this. He would tell Americans that stopping global warming means higher energy prices, and that arresting health-care inflation means cutting back on medical procedures that people want but don’t need. ...
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