Urmetazoan

Okay child, let me explain to you what an urmetazoan is.

You know how animals have many different body parts like eyes, arms, legs, and a heart? Well, a long, long time ago, there was a special type of animal that didn't have any of these parts yet. We call it an urmetazoan.

Imagine a tiny blob floating around in the sea. It didn't have any eyes or ears to see or hear. It didn't have any arms or legs to move around. And it didn't have a heart to pump blood.
It was just a simple little blob that could take in food and release waste.

But over time, this little blob evolved into more complex animals like a sea sponge, which does have different types of cells and can become different body parts. And from there, animals continued to evolve into more diverse and specialized creatures that we see today, like you and me!

So an urmetazoan was one of the very first living things on the planet that didn't have any specialized body parts yet. It's like the great-great-great-grandparent of all animals!