For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation)."Animalia" redirects here. For other uses, see Animalia (disambiguation)."Non-human animal" redirects here. For other uses, see Non-human#Animal rights and personhood.

Animals Temporal range: Ediacaran – Recent PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
(Unranked)	Opisthokonta
(Unranked)	Holozoa
(Unranked)	Filozoa
Kingdom:	Animalia Linnaeus, 1758
Phyla
Subkingdom Parazoa Porifera Placozoa Subkingdom Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) Ctenophora Cnidaria Bilateria (unranked) Orthonectida Rhombozoa Acoelomorpha Chaetognatha Superphylum Deuterostomia Chordata Hemichordata Echinodermata Xenoturbellida Vetulicolia † Protostomia (unranked) Superphylum Ecdysozoa Kinorhyncha Loricifera Priapulida Nematoda Nematomorpha Onychophora Tardigrada Arthropoda Superphylum Platyzoa Platyhelminthes Gastrotricha Rotifera Acanthocephala Gnathostomulida Micrognathozoa Cycliophora SuperphylumLophotrochozoa Sipuncula Hyolitha † Nemertea Phoronida Bryozoa Entoprocta Brachiopoda Mollusca Annelida

Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organismsof the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process ofmetamorphosis later on in their lives. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently. All animals must ingest other organisms or their products forsustenance (see Heterotroph).

Most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago. Animals are divided into various sub-groups, includingbirds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish andinsects.