noun
- multicellular animals as distinguished from single-celled organisms
Usage: biology; technical
Examples
- The metazoa include all animals from simple sponges to complex mammals.
- Scientists study the evolutionary relationships among different metazoa.
- Metazoa are characterized by having multiple specialized cells.
- The fossil record shows early metazoa appeared over 500 million years ago.
- Unlike bacteria, metazoa have complex organ systems.
- Marine metazoa display incredible diversity in form and function.