Question

Why are most of the plant tissues dead while most of the animal tissues are living?

Answer 1

Most plant tissues are dead, since dead cells can provide mechanical strength as easily as live ones, and need less maintenance. These dead cells are limited to certain regions that are responsible for providing mechanical strength or other protective functions. Since growth in plants is limited to certain regions within the plant body, these dead cells do not interfere with the growth of the plants. But in animals the growth pattern is not similar to that of plants for which dead cells, if present, would interfere with the growth of the animal. Moreover, an animal needs to be constantly moving, hence, cells too have to be very active so as to provide the energy and necessary support to carry out such activities.