Testate amoebae

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Testate Amoebae TESTACEA are single-celled protists partially enclosed in a test (shell), [1] , usually found in peat bogs; near/in fresh water and in plants where nitrification recently occurred. [2]

Almost all of the 25 different types of testate amoebae reproduce asexually. Testate amoebae move by using pseudopodia (false feet), a temporary cell extension used for moving, and taking in food.

sub types of Testate amoebae are differentiated by their tests, and what kind of pseudopodia they have; lobose, recticulose, or filose.

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[edit] Test/shell

The test is a structure sometimes made by accretion, which is when ingested materials surrounding them are used in secretions. Testate amoebae’s tests are some times used to find the calcium carbonate, or silica levels in an area where the amoebae are found. Past environmental changes can be determined from analysing the composition of the tests, and they have been used to detect past climate change.[3]

[edit] Evolutionary history

Fossils of testate amoebae date back to the Cryogenian period. Testate amoebae are theorized to be mostly polyphyletic (coming from more than one ancestral type), but testaceafilosea, another group of testate amoebae, are theorized to be made up of one ancestral type (monophyletic).

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun03/gsamoebae.html Testate amoebae, peat bogs and past climates. accessed 16 march 2007
  2. ^ http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun03/gsamoebae.html Testate amoebae, peat bogs and past climates. accessed 16 march 2007
  3. ^ http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun03/gsamoebae.html Testate amoebae, peat bogs and past climates. accessed 16 march 2007

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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