Question

A connecting link between plant and animal kingdom is:
A) Paramecium
B) Chlamydomonas
C) Chlorella
D) Euglena

Answer 1

Hint: The plant kingdom includes all plants. The plants are eukaryotic, multicellular and autotrophic organisms. The animal kingdom has animals which are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms.

Complete Answer:
Characteristics of plant kingdom are:
- Eukaryotic and multicellular.
- Cellulose walls
- Photosynthetic
- Autotrophic organisms
- Reproduction is both sexual and asexual.

Characteristics of animal kingdom are:
- Multicellular and eukaryotic
- Heterotrophic
- Do not have cell walls.
- Heterotrophic
- Mostly sexually reproduced.

- Euglena is the genus of single cell flagellate eukaryotes. Species of euglena are found in both freshwater and saltwater.
- Euglena has photosynthesizing chloroplasts. They are autotrophic organisms like plants. The euglena can also take nourishment heterotrophically like animals.
- The cells of euglena lack the cell wall. The heterotrophic nutrition is the process of the animals and autotrophic is characteristic of plants.
- So the euglena has features of both plants and animals. In the place of the cell wall Euglena has a pellicle made up of a protein layer.

So the correct answer is Euglena. Euglena is a connecting link between plant and animal kingdom.

Additional information: Paramecia are single celled protists that are found in aquatic habitats. Paramecia are eukaryotes. Chlamydomonas is a genus of green algae. It has a cell wall. Chlorella is also a type of algae containing green photosynthetic pigments.

Note: In the low moist conditions or when food is scarce, the euglena forms a protective wall around itself. It lies as dormant till the environmental conditions improve. Euglena is rich in protein and nutritional value. It can be used for livestock and aquafarm fish.