What Do Animal-like Protists Have in Common With Animals Protists are called plant-similar, mucus-similar and brute-like because they share some of the characteristics of plants, fungi and animals, even though they vest in a different category: the kingdom Protista. They are all eukaryotes (that is, they have a nucleus) and all live in moist atmospheric condition, whether in saltwater, freshwater or inside other organisms. They take only one prison cell, though some appear as multicelled equally they live in colonies. Animal-like protists are too called animal-like protozoa, or "first animals," every bit they developed from bacteria to become the evolutionary forebears of more circuitous animals. General Characteristics of Protozoans and Protozoa Definition The protozoa definition involves their domain of eukarya (protists are eukaryotic), their own carve up kingdom of protista and how they eat. Almost all protozoans are heterotro