Early stage sporocarps

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comments (6)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Bizarre, I still have a hard time understanding what a slime mold exactly is.

PS: looks like you missed setting the location on this one. Posted 9 years ago
1. morpheme
  
  Lion
  
  They are protists - they are related most closely to amoebas and other single celled organisms, but have some odd habits and characteristics that I think scientists still struggle to understand. I've heard there is little money in studying them, so little study happens... Posted 9 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    So I actually should not have added it to the fungi list, right? Posted 9 years ago
  2. 1. morpheme
      
      Lion
      
      Technically that is correct - but for many years because they are spore bearing and do not contain chlorophyll they were considered to be fungi. Their reclassification happened relatively recently and they are still often studied by mycologists and included in mycology texts. It seems like modern science isn't even really done shaking all this up.. Protista as a kingdom appears to be a bit of a catchall for very simple things that are not plants, animals or fungi It looks like many of the organisms included in it aren't related at all. I suspect that there will be more classifications in years to come. Posted 9 years ago
    2. 1. Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        Thanks for the extensive explanation, it may also explain the limited amount of species is this new kingdom. Posted 9 years ago
      2. morpheme
        
        Lion
        
        That and most protists are so tiny that you can't see them with the naked eye :) - most of the members are uni-cellular. Slime molds are strange. Some actually are a single *very large* cell with many nuclei and others spend most of their lives in a microscopic "amoeba" form, until they need to reproduce, when they get together and form visible sporocarps. They are truly strange creatures. Posted 9 years ago