An attribute fount in plants but not animals is

The correct option is Autotrophy.

To understand why this is correct, let's break down the differences in how plants and animals obtain their energy and nutrients:

1. Autotrophy vs. Heterotrophy:
* Autotrophy is the ability of an organism to synthesize its own food from simple inorganic substances, such as carbon dioxide and water, using light or chemical energy. Plants are autotrophic organisms (specifically photoautotrophs) because they perform photosynthesis using chlorophyll to convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into glucose.
* Animals lack this ability and must consume other organisms (plants or other animals) to obtain energy and organic nutrients. Therefore, animals are heterotrophic.

2. Evaluating the other options:
* Metabolism: This is the sum of all chemical reactions that occur within a living organism to maintain life. Both plants and animals carry out metabolic processes (such as cellular respiration) to convert nutrients into usable energy.
* Sexual reproduction: Both plants and animals are capable of reproducing sexually, involving the fusion of male and female gametes to produce offspring.
* Asexual reproduction: This is reproduction that does not involve the fusion of gametes. It occurs in both plants (e.g., vegetative propagation, budding) and various animal groups (e.g., budding in hydra, regeneration in sea stars, parthenogenesis in some insects).

Consequently, autotrophy is the unique attribute among the choices that is found in plants but not in animals.