Protist Test Review Guide

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering animal-like, plant-like, and fungus-like protists, their classification, locomotion, structures, and key examples from the Protist Test Review Guide.

Three Categories of Protists

The three major groups of protists: animal-like, plant-like, and fungus-like protists.

Protozoans

Animal-like protists that are classified by their method of movement.

Sarcodinians

Protozoans that move by extending their cytoplasm or "false-foot" (pseudopod); an example is Ameoba.

Pseudopod

A "false-foot" formed by extending cytoplasm, used for movement by Sarcodinians like Ameoba.

Zooflagellates

Protozoans that move by using a flagella (a whip-like extension).

Ciliaphorans

The largest group of protozoans, which move by using cilia (tiny hair-like projections); an example is Paramecium.

Paramecium

A ciliaphoran protozoan that moves with cilia and contains internal structures such as a nucleus.

Sporozoans

Protozoans that do not move and live as parasites in a host organism, causing harm.

Plasmodium (Sporozoan)

A parasitic sporozoan that causes malaria.

Types of Plant-like Protists

The three organizational forms of plant-like protists: unicellular, multicellular, and colonial.

Rhodo-

A biological prefix that means RED.

Red Algae Pigment

The specialized photosynthetic pigment that enables red algae to grow at great depths.

Volvox

An example of a colonial green algae.

Kelp

A multicellular plant-like protist that is a type of BROWN algae.

Euglena

A plant-like protist that is green in color and possesses the unique ability to function as both an autotroph (makes its own food) and a heterotroph (eats food).

Diatom

A type of unicellular algae characterized by a distinct geometric shape.

Dinoflagellates

A type of unicellular algae that can cause red tides when their population overpopulates.

Red Tide

An ecological condition caused by the overpopulation of dinoflagellates.

Phytoplankton

Plankton that carry out photosynthesis.

Types of Fungus-like Protists

The three groups of fungus-like protists: plasmodial slime molds, cellular slime molds, and water molds.

Fungus-like Protists

Protists that are not classified as true fungi because their cell walls are composed of chitin (not cellulose) and their spores have flagella.

Plasmodium (Slime Mold Stage)

The feeding stage of plasmodial slime molds.

Water Molds

A group of fungus-like protists responsible for causing the Irish Potato Famine.

Ameoba

A sarcodinian protozoan that moves and feeds by extending its cytoplasm to form pseudopods.