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PROTISTA
Protist kingdom
Plant-like
PHOTOSYNTHETIC PROTISTS
DIVISIONS
Rhodophyta
Red Algae |
Pheophyta
Brown Algae |
Chlorophyta
Green Algae |
Chrysophyta
Golden Algae, Diatoms |
Pyrrophyta
Dinoflagellates |
Euglenophyta
Euglenoids |
Fungi-like
HETEROTROPHS
WITH RESTRICTED MOBILITY
WITH RESTRICTED MOBILITY
DIVISIONS
Animal-like
HETEROTROPHS
WITH NO PERMANENT LOCOMOTOR APPARATUS
WITH NO PERMANENT LOCOMOTOR APPARATUS
PHYLA
The Sarcodines - all can have pseudopodia
Rhizopoda
Amoebas |
Actinopoda
Actinopods, heliozoans |
Foraminifera
Forams |
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
HETEROTROPHS
WITH FLAGELLA
WITH FLAGELLA
PHYLA
Sarcomastigophora
Zoomastigotes |
Ciliophora
Ciliates |
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NONMOTILE SPORE-FORMERS
PHYLUM
Apicomplexa
Sporozoans
Sporozoans
MYXOMYCOTA
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MYXOMYCETES
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PHYSARALES
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PHYSARACEAE
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Fuligo septica
Scrambled Egg Slime Mold /
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Myxomycota
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Myxomycetes
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LICEALES
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RETICULARIACEAE
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Lycogala epidendrum
Wolf's Milk Slime Mold / Toothpaste Slime Mold
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Myxomycota
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Myxomycetes
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Liceales
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Reticulariaceae
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Enteridium lycoperdon
False Puffball Slime Mold
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A plasmodial slime mold begins with numbers of individual single-cell, single-nucleus amoeboid cells engulfing and digesting bacteria, yeasts, and microscopic bits of organic matter. If the food supply dwindles in an area, two amoebae of different but compatible strains, come together, fuse their cells, and then their nuclei.
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The nuclei divide continuously as the organism grows, becoming one large blob lacking cell walls, all enclosed within a cell membrane (syncytium). This plasmodium flows across the ground like a giant amoeba, shunning light and ingesting organic material. Certain plasmodia have been known to carry some bacteria with them as they travel. [In very wet periods, these organisms have been known to move into gardens and lawns and even homes.]
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Should the plasmodium encounter light or drier environmental conditions, it becomes stationary and forms an irregularly shaped structure bearing spores within a crust (aethalia). Over time the spores are dispersed by the wind, insects, or on occasion, naturalists. The spores remain dormant until favorable environmental conditions return, when they germinate to produce the motile amoeboid cells.
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Fuligo septica
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Enteridium lycoperdon
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Lycogala epidendrum
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Kingdom Protista
Division Myxomycota – slime molds, myxomycètes Class Myxomycetes – acellular slime molds, plasmodial slime molds, true slime molds Subclass Endosporeae |
Order Physarales
Family Physaraceae Genus Fuligo Species Fuligo septica (L.) F.H. Wigg. |
Order Liceales
Family Reticulariaceae Genus Enteridium Species Enteridium lycoperdon |
Order Liceales
Family Reticulariaceae Genus Lycogala Species Lycogala epidendrum |
Produces the largest aethalium, spore-producing structure, of any slime mold.
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In Vera Cruz, Mexico, known as "caca de Luna," meaning "moon excrement," fried and eaten when very young |
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2013
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Fuligo septica
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Slime Mold #2
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Slime Mold #3
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Slime Mold #4
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Slime Mold #5
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Slime Mold #6
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Slime Mold #7
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Slime Mold #8
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October 14, 2013
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October 17, 2013
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Slime Mold #9
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2014
2015
October 30 |