The key difference between plants and animals is that the plants cannot move and they stay attached to the soil by roots while the animals can move from place to place. Also, the plants contain chloroplasts and chlorophylls but not the animals.
Scientists tried to classify living organisms using different techniques. As a result, Robert H. Whittaker proposed a five kingdom system of classification in which all living organisms are categorized into five kingdoms namely Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia. Accordingly, Kingdom Plantae includes all multicellular plants groups while Kingdom Animalia includes all multicellular animals groups. Though plants and animals are eukaryotic multicellular organisms, plants differ from animals in many characteristics. Therefore, one major difference between plants and animals is the presence and absence of chloroplasts. That is; the plants contain chloroplasts while animals do not contain chloroplasts.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Plants
3. What are Animals
4. Similarities Between Plants and Animals
5. Side by Side Comparison – Plants vs Animals in Tabular Form
6. Summary
What are Plants?
Plants are multicellular eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms that belong to Kingdom Plantae. They appear in green colour due to the presence of chloroplasts and chlorophylls. Since they are able to make their own foods by photosynthesis, they are photoautotrophs. Thus, they use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and together with water, they make carbohydrates. Consequently, as a byproduct of the photosynthesis, they release oxygen to the atmosphere.
Figure 01: Plants
Besides, unlike animals, plants cannot move. They stay at a permanent place attached to the soil by roots. Furthermore, plants differ from animals from the way they reproduce. That is; the plants reproduce via seeds, spores, stems, leaves and roots. Some plants produce coloured flowers and tastier fruits. Plants can respond to external stimuli. But they don’t contain sense organs and a nervous system.
What are Animals?
Animals are eukaryotic multicellular organisms that belong to Kingdom Animalia. Animals can move from one place to the next place. Moreover, they breathe, and they consume foods produced by other organisms. Hence, they are heterotrophs.
Figure 02: Animals
Animals reproduce sexually, and they give birth to young or females lay eggs. Animals possess sense organs and a nervous system. Hence they can respond to external signals well and react according to them. Furthermore, animals can be distinguishable from each other due to their specific shapes and sizes.
What are the Similarities Between Plants and Animals?
- Plants and animals are eukaryotic organisms.
- Furthermore, they are multicellular organisms.
- Both are made from cells and have differentiated tissues.
- Water and air are basic requirements of plants and animals.
- They produce energy to survive.
- Furthermore, both plants and animals reproduce to maintain their generations.
- And also, they grow and develop.
What is the Difference Between Plants and Animals?
Plants and animals differ from each other in many ways. Primarily, animals can move from place to place while plants cannot move as they are rooted to the soil. Thus, this is the key difference between plants and animals. Furthermore, plants are autotrophs while animals are heterotrophs. Another difference between plants and animals is the presence of chloroplasts and chlorophylls in plants while those are absent in animals. Moreover, plants differ from animals by the reproduction as well. Hence, plants reproduce via seeds, spores, stems, roots and leaves while animals reproduce sexually by laying eggs or giving birth to young ones.
The below infographic on difference between plants and animals shows more differences between both.
Summary – Plants vs Animals
Plants and animals are higher organisms which belong to Kingdoms Plantae and Animalia respectively. Plants look in green colour due to the presence of chlorophylls. On the other hand, animals do not contain chlorophylls. Furthermore, animals can move place to place while plants permanently attached to soil hence cannot move. Plants have plant cells surrounded by a cell wall while animals have animal cells surrounded by a plasma membrane. This summarizes the difference between plants and animals.
Reference:
1.“Plant.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Nov. 2018. Available here
2.“Kingdom Animalia.” Nerve Cell | Structure, Nerve Cell Function | Biology@TutorVista.com. Available here
Image Courtesy:
1.”Diversity of plants image version 5″By Rkitko (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2.”Animals png set by mossi889-d4uye4q”By mossi889 (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia