metazoan
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8.6
- noun
- /ˌmɛtəˈzoʊən/
- Specialized
:
metazoario
- Research over the past 40 years has revealed few metazoan plankton and no fish in the water column of the McMurdo Dry Valley lakes, making them unlike any other lakes on Earth (e.g., Parker and Simmons 1985).
Examples
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In marine biology, metazoans play a crucial role in the ecosystem by forming the basis of the food chain.
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The glass ceiling shattered only once on Earth in 500 million years since metazoans became complex.
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Here we have all this family tree of the different metazoan forms that have been created by the Florida hand of evolution.
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Metazoans are all animals whose bodies, originating from a single cell, are composed of many differentiated cells arranged into definite organs.
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The metazoan LUCA was a complex generalist (had the Natural Killer Complex for immune defense, but also Hox and ParaHox for a body plan).
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The evolution of metazoans has led to the diversity of animal life we see today.
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Scientists study how metazoans develop from simple organisms into complex animals.
Synonyms
Animals made of many cells that form tissues and organs, usually with a gut and a nervous system
A large group of animals made of many cells with bodies that have organs and a nervous system
How Complex
Surface Forms
Morphology
metazoan = metazoa (opaque) = meta + zo + an
The target is historically related to the technical term 'metazoa', but the singular form and specialized biological meaning are not predictable from the parts for an average learner.
Etymology
Metazoan comes from the Greek parts meta- ('after' or 'beyond') and -zoan from zoon ('animal'), and the familiar word zoo comes from the same root. So a metazoan is an animal made of many cells, which is why the word means a 'multicellular' animal.