A mushroom and a humpback whale are alike because both are?

Both mushrooms and humpback whales share the characteristic of being heterotrophic, which means that they cannot produce their own food through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis and instead rely on consuming other organisms for their energy and nutrients. Mushrooms, as fungi, obtain their nourishment by absorbing organic matter from their environment, often breaking down dead material. Humpback whales, being animals, consume other organisms like krill and small fish as their food source. This commonality highlights the way both organisms interact with their ecosystems—by relying on other life forms for survival.

In contrast, autotrophic organisms, such as plants, can produce their own food from inorganic substances, which does not apply to either mushrooms or humpback whales. Multicellularity itself is a feature of both organisms, as they are both made up of multiple cells, but this does not encompass the functional aspect of how they obtain energy. Lastly, both organisms are eukaryotic, characterized by cells with nuclei, rather than prokaryotic, which refers to organisms without a defined nucleus. Hence, the accurate reason they are alike lies specifically in their heterotrophic nature.