The strongest evidence supporting the classification of sponges as animals rather than plants is that sponges cannot make their own food. Unlike plants, which are autotrophic and produce their own food through photosynthesis, sponges are heterotrophic, meaning they rely on filtering food particles from the water around them. This aligns with the characteristics of animals, as they obtain nutrients from other organisms. While the other statements about sponges (asymmetry, lacking a backbone, and lacking tissues or organs) do also highlight distinctions from some other organisms, the inability to produce their own food is a key factor that classifies them as animals.
Today, biologists classify sponges as animals rather than plants. What evidence supports today’s classification? (SC.912.L.15.6)
*
1 point
Sponges have asymmetry.
Sponges do not have a backbone.
Sponges cannot make their own food.
Sponges do not have tissues or organs
1 answer