Question

exploring the south american rainforest, a scientist discovers a mysterious organism and brings it back to the lab for further study. what cell characteristics should the scientist examine to tell whether the organism is an animal or plant? why?

Answer 1

The presence of cell wall, and large central vacuoles differentiate a plant cell and animal cell. Animal cell doesn't have those

Answer 2

In the given case, the scientist should first look for a cell wall as only cells of the plants possess a cell wall. After that he or she should examine for chloroplasts as animal cells do not possess chloroplasts. And finally, he or she should look for the vacuole, that is, if the vacuole is of small size, then it is most probably be an animal cell, however, if it is large then it is most probably a plant cell.