Snow Leopard
Animals are multicellular, heterotrophic, eukaryotic organisms whose cells lack cell walls.
A Common Ancestor
Recent molecular studies and cladistic analyses recognize the clade Choanozoa to be the true sister group to all Metazoa—multicellular animals. Choanozoa is one group of organisms formerly called “protists” and is named for choanoflagellates (art and photo right), single-celled, colonial organisms that look like certain cells of sponges and flatworms. Current thinking suggests that the choanoflagellates alive today are the best living examples of what the last common ancestor of metazoans looked like.