Muscle tissue has four main characteristics - excitability, contractility, extensibility, and elasticity - that allow it to perform important functions like movement, posture, and temperature regulation. There are three main types of muscle tissue: skeletal muscle, which is voluntarily controlled and enables movement; smooth muscle, which controls involuntary functions like digestion; and cardiac muscle, which pumps blood through the heart and circulatory system. Each muscle type has distinct cellular features related to their roles and methods of electrical and chemical stimulation to cause contraction.