An animal cell is a eukaryotic cell that does not have a cell wall, and is enclosed by a plasma membrane. Cell organelles are enclosed by a plasma membrane, including the cell nucleus. Unlike animal cells which do not have a cell wall, plant cells have a cell wall.
Animals are a large group of diverse organisms that account for three-fourths of all species on Earth. With their ability to move, respond to stimuli, respond to environmental changes, and adapt to different modes of feeding, defense, and reproduction, all of these mechanisms are augmented by their constituents in the body. However, animals cannot make their own food like plants and therefore depend on plants in some way.
All living things are made up of cells that make up their body. Some of these organisms are unicellular and others are multicellular.
A cell is the smallest structural-functional unit of living organisms. The cells that make up animals are called animal cells and the cells that make up plants are called plant cells.
Most cells are covered by a protective membrane called a cell wall that gives cells their shape and rigidity.
Because animal cells lack a rigid cell wall, they can develop a great diversity of cell types, tissues, and organs. Nerves and muscles are made of specialized cells that plant cells cannot produce, so these nerve and muscle cells are capable of movement.
Animal cell size and shape
Animal cells come in all shapes and sizes, ranging in size from a few millimeters to micrometers. The largest animal cell is the ostrich egg, which is 5 inches in diameter and weighs about 1.2-1.4 kg, and the smallest animal cell is the neuron, about 100 microns in diameter.
Animal cells are smaller than plant cells and, due to the lack of a cell wall, they are usually irregular in shape, taking on different shapes. Some cells are round, oval, flat or rod-shaped, spherical, concave, rectangular. This is due to the lack of cell wall. Note: Most cells are microscopic so they can only be seen under a microscope to study their anatomy.
But animal cells share other cellular organelles with plant cells because both evolved from eukaryotic cells.
As mentioned earlier, animal cells are eukaryotic cells with a membrane-bound nucleus. Hence, their genetic material is enclosed in the nucleus in the form of DNA. They also contain several structural organelles within the plasma membrane that perform various specialized functions for the proper functioning of the cell and to maintain normal body mechanisms in general.
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