Red blood cell(job: to carry oxygen)When mature it has no nucleus and no mitochondria. That leaves more room for hemoglobin. It is a small disc dished in on both faces.
White blood cell(job: to defend the body against infection)White blood cells take part in the immune response. Some become macrophages that gather at sites of infection.
Nerve cell(job: to carry electrical signals)Tree-like dendrites receive messages from other neurons. One long axon carries the signal on to its endings. Also called a neuron.
Muscle cell(job: to contract and cause movement)A skeletal muscle cell, or muscle fiber, is long and cylindrical. It has many nuclei. Its stripes come from the regular arrangement of the proteins actin and myosin, which make it contract.
Sperm cell(job: to swim to an egg cell and fertilize it)The male reproductive cell. It has a flagellum as a tail, a neck with energy-producing mitochondria, and a head that holds the genetic material.
Egg cell(job: to be fertilized and grow into a new organism)The female reproductive cell, among the largest in the human body. In mammals a layer called the zona pellucida protects it.
Ciliated epithelial cell(job: to sweep mucus out of the airways)A tall, narrow cell with cilia on its free surface. The cilia move mucus and trapped particles out of the respiratory tract.
Plant cells 5
Root hair cell(job: to absorb water and minerals)The hair increases the surface area for taking in water and minerals. A root hair is an extension of a cell in the root's outer layer.
Palisade cell(job: to make food by photosynthesis)Column-shaped and tightly packed under the upper surface of a leaf. It has many chloroplasts. Most of the leaf's photosynthesis takes place here.
Guard cells(job: to open and close a stoma)Two surround each stoma and control its opening and closing. A stoma is a pore in the surface of a leaf.
Xylem vessel(job: to carry water up from the roots)Xylem cells are dead when mature. Vessel elements join end to end into a tube that carries water and nutrients up from the roots.
Phloem sieve tube(job: to carry sugars around the plant)Sieve-tube cells join end to end. Sugars pass from one to the next through sieve plates full of holes. The companion cell beside each has more ribosomes and mitochondria.
How this list was compiled: Every cell, its name and its job were checked on 2026-09-30 in two places, for facts only and with nothing copied. (1) OpenStax Biology 2e: 40.2 Components of the Blood (red and white blood cells), https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/40-2-components-of-the-blood; 35.1 Neurons and Glial Cells, https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/35-1-neurons-and-glial-cells; 38.4 Muscle Contraction and Locomotion, https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/38-4-muscle-contraction-and-locomotion; 43.3 Human Reproductive Anatomy and Gametogenesis and 43.6 Fertilization and Early Embryonic Development (sperm, egg, zona pellucida), https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/43-3-human-reproductive-anatomy-and-gametogenesis; 33.2 Animal Primary Tissues (ciliated columnar epithelium), https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/33-2-animal-primary-tissues; 30.1 The Plant Body, 30.2 Stems, 30.3 Roots and 30.4 Leaves (xylem, phloem, root hairs, palisade cells, guard cells), https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/30-2-stems. (2) Wikipedia, text only: Red blood cell, White blood cell, Neuron, Skeletal muscle, Sperm, Egg cell, Respiratory epithelium, Root hair, Palisade cell, Guard cell, Vessel element and Sieve tube element, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palisade_cell. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30. Own original drawings from plain geometry; nothing traced or copied. Licence: own work
How it works
This specialized cells worksheet shows twelve cells side by side, seven from animals and five from plants. Print it numbered, with a line for each name, or quiz yourself: name the cell, then pick the job it is adapted for.
Read the full guide
Look for the part that does the work
Each cell has a feature that fits its job: a tail for swimming, one long fiber for carrying signals, a fringe of cilia for sweeping, a thin outgrowth for taking in water. The cells are not drawn to one scale.
A cell differentiation worksheet
Differentiation is how a cell becomes specialized. Red blood cells form from stem cells in the bone marrow, and the cells of a growing root turn into special cell types as they mature. This sheet shows twelve results.
What is missing can be the adaptation: a mature red blood cell has no nucleus, and xylem cells are dead when mature.
Neuron is accepted for nerve cell, and muscle fiber for muscle cell.
Questions and answers
What is a specialized cell?
A cell whose shape and contents fit one job. A red blood cell is specialized to carry oxygen, and a guard cell to open and close a pore in a leaf.
What are examples of specialized animal cells?
Red blood cells, white blood cells, nerve cells, muscle cells, sperm cells, egg cells and the ciliated cells that line the airways.