Multicellular organisms

Multicellular organisms are organisms that consist of more than one cell, in contrast to unicellular organisms.^[1]

All species of animals, land plants and most fungi are multicellular, as are many algae, whereas a few organisms are partially uni- and partially multicellular, like slime molds and social amoebae such as the genus Dictyostelium.^[2][3]

Multicellular organisms arise in various ways, for example by cell division or by aggregation of many single cells.^[4][3] Colonial organisms are the result of many identical individuals joining together to form a colony. However, it can often be hard to separate colonial protists from true multicellular organisms, because the two concepts are not distinct; colonial protists have been dubbed “pluricellular” rather than “multicellular”.^[5][6]

Multicellular organisms are organisms that consist of more than one cell, in contrast to unicellular organisms.^[1]

All species of animals, land plants and most fungi are multicellular, as are many algae, whereas a few organisms are partially uni- and partially multicellular, like slime molds and social amoebae such as the genus Dictyostelium.^[2][3]

Multicellular organisms arise in various ways, for example by cell division or by aggregation of many single cells.^[4][3] Colonial organisms are the result of many identical individuals joining together to form a colony. However, it can often be hard to separate colonial protists from true multicellular organisms, because the two concepts are not distinct; colonial protists have been dubbed “pluricellular” rather than “multicellular”.^[5][6]