What Are Protists?<\/p>\n
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In this exercise we will explore the Internet to learn about Protists, but first we need to understand where the Protists fit in the classification system.<\/p>\n
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Easier said than done!<\/p>\n
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We have a problem in taxonomy today; the classification of biological organisms is anything but cut-and-dried (or carved in stone)! A certain amount of chaos now reigns and will continue to reign until the next great synthesis occurs among biologists. This means that you can expect a certain amount of disagreement between what textbooks and the various sites on the web will tell you about classification.<\/p>\n
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Right now you are familiar with two current models of classification:<\/p>\n
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We tend to overlay the two as follows:<\/p>\n
Prokaryote<\/strong> = Monera<\/strong><\/p>\n Eukaryote<\/strong> = Protista, Fungi, Animalia and Plantae.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n But biologists have many other schemes in the works. One new classification scheme classifies all living things into three \u201cDomains<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some biologists have married the three domain system and the five kingdom system and come up with a six kingdom system (shown below). Note: Archaeabacteria<\/em><\/strong> is the old name for Archaea<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Image from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Within this system, the Protists are the most difficult kingdom to classify!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It is certain that Protists belong in the domain Eukarya, but what characterizes Protists? The Kingdom Protista has become a \u201cdumping ground\u201d for organisms that don\u2019t fit into the other three kingdoms. They are always eukaryotes, but after that just about anything goes. Protist classification is still in such flux that many of the group names are just not worth learning. In fact, some biologists predict that it is likely the Protista will be divided into 10-12 kingdoms in the coming years!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even though opinions vary widely, the kingdom Protista is understood to consist of three general groups. Use your textbook (pg. 401\u2013409) and the web sites below to create a concept map overview of the Protist kingdom. The following terms should be included in your concept map:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
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