Final answer:
Muscle tissue enables animal movement through contraction, which is a fundamental aspect of muscle cells. These cells contract and pull on bones or other structures, resulting in movement. This process applies to all types of muscle tissue: skeletal, cardiac, and smooth, facilitating voluntary and involuntary movements.
Step-by-step explanation:
Muscle tissue is essential for animal movement because muscle cells are specialized for contraction. The understanding of how muscle movement occurs is foundational in biology. Muscle cells, or myocytes, are excitable and contractile; they can respond to stimuli and shorten to exert force. This contractility is what enables muscles to cause movement in various parts of an animal's body. When muscles contract, they pull on bones or other structures, resulting in movement. This process occurs in all three types of muscle tissue: skeletal muscle, which facilitates voluntary movement and locomotion; cardiac muscle, which pumps blood through the heart; and smooth muscle, found in internal organs like the digestive system and blood vessels.
For instance, skeletal muscles work by attaching to the skeleton via tendons. Upon contracting, they cause the bones to move, enabling actions such as walking, lifting, or opening a book. Cardiac muscle, though involuntary, contracts rhythmically to pump blood, thus sustaining life. Similarly, smooth muscle tissues work in vital bodily processes, such as moving food through the digestive tract or regulating the diameter of blood vessels.