Diversity among Protista
During the course of evolutionary history,
organisms in the kingdom Protista have evolved diversity in their following
characteristics.
a. Size
and Structure
b. Means
of locomotion
c. Ways
of obtaining nutrients
d. Interactions
with other organisms
e. Habitat
f.
Modes of reproduction
Based on
the diversity, most biologists regard the protists Kingdom as a polyphyletic
group (a set of evolving organisms that have been grouped together but do not
share an immediate common ancestor) of organisms. Margulis and Schwartz have
listed 27 phyla to accommodate this diverse assemblage of organisms.
Major Groups of Protista
Protozoa:
Animal – like Protists.
All protozoans are
unicellular. Most of them ingest their food by endocytosis. A brief count on
protozoan diversity is given in the following table.
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
