Trypanosoma is a
flagellate type of
protozoan and
causes sleeping
sickness
The amoeba is a very common type of
protozoan
A flagellate
protozoan.
Can you see
the flagella?
Facts about protozoa:
• Are protists
• Lives mostly as a heterotrophic organism; most
eat bacteria or other protozoa, but a few can take
in nutrients dissolved in water
• Do well in wet environments
• Though only a few percentage of protozoa are
parasites, they cause some of the most harmful
diseases
• The four most groups are flagellates, amoebas,
apicomplexans, and ciliates
Rhizopoda
 Commonly called amoebas
 Does not really possess a defined structure
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although some do live inside a protein shell
Characterized by pseudopodia, or “fake feet”
Pseudopodia are used for movement as well as
capturing food;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6rnhiMx
tKU
Include various organisms; from amoebas to
A rhizopod, also
slime molds
known as an
Found in freshwater and marine habitats
amoeba.
Since there is a lot of variety, reproduction is
varied; some reproduce by binary fission and
some using spores
Rhizopoda can often be classified by the shape
and structure of the pseudopods
 Radiolarians
 Are amoeboid protozoa
 Have detailed skeletons; with inner
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Both radiolarians and heliozoans
are referred to as actinopods, due
to slender pseudopodia
(endoplasm) and outer (ectoplasm) parts
Skeletons are usually fused into one
beautiful piece
Possess many pseudopodia that look like
needles
Use their buoyancy in coasting ocean
currents to move around
Reproduce both sexually and asexually
Heliozoans
Very similar to radiolarians
Skeleton consists of glassy plates that are
not fused
Circular amoeboid with pseudopods
around the body (appearing like a sun)
Differ from radiolarians in that their
skeleton is not as complex
A radiolarian, with many
pseudopodia at the bottom
Heliozoans have a similar
appearance to the sun
 Amoeba
 Common type of protozoa
 Doesn’t really possess any definite shape and are very
flexible as a result
 Uses pseudopodia to move and eat;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pR7TNzJ_pA&feature
=related
 Live in freshwater and saltwater and can be parasites
 Also have endoplasm and ectoplasm
Amoebas
don’t have a
definite
structure
Paramecium
 Are a ciliate protozoa, using cilia for
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movement and eating
Are oval-like and possess slipper
shape
Found in fresh water environments
(warm waters)
Are covered in cilia, food travels
along cilia into the oral groove
Have two types of nuclei; large
macronucleus and then 80 tiny
diploid nuclei used in sexual
reproduction
Paramecium are unicellular protists
capable of both sexual and asexual
(binary fission; more common)
reproduction
Asexual reproduction occurs when
the organism’s macronucleus
elongates and splits
The complex sexual mixing of
genes in paramecium happens
during conjugation, the numerous
tiny nuclei undergo meiosis in this
process
Paramecium eat microorganisms
such as algae, bacteria, and yeast
The structure of paramecium
Paramecium- Conjugation
Foraminiferans
 Also have pseudopodia for movement, feeding, and shell
formation
 Are almost all marine, living in the sand or attached to
rocks and algae, or even present in plankton
 Named for their porous shells made of calcium carbonate
 Very large animals, shells can grow up to 1 inch long
Notice the porous skeleton in
this foraminifera
Foraminiferans
•When the foraminiferans die, the shells
drop to the bottom and the calcium
carbonate forms calcareous ooze
•The calcareous ooze has settled to the
bottom of the sea forming much of the
sediment found on the ocean floor,
forming much of the sedimentary rocks
in the earth.
•Foraminiferans leave fossils that can be
used to correlate the ages of sedimentary
rocks!
•Study of fossil foraminiferans has been
extremely important in recognizing
geological strata and for dating deposits
•The oil industry relies heavily on
these microfossils to find potential oil
deposits
A foraminifera fossil, which are very
useful and important in dating
sedimentary rocks