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Foraminifers
Answer for the clue "Foraminifers ", 8 letters:
protozoa
Alternative clues for the word protozoa
Word definitions for protozoa in dictionaries
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1828, from Modern Latin Protozoa , coined 1818 by German zoologist Georg August Goldfuss (1782-1848) from Greek protos "first" (see proto- ) + zoia , plural of zoion "animal" (see zoo ). Originally including sponges and corals; current sense is from 1845. ...
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Protozoa \Pro`to*zo"a\, n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ? first + zo^,on an animal.] (Zo["o]l.) The lowest of the grand divisions of the animal kingdom. Note: The entire animal consists of a single cell which is variously modified; but in many species a number of ...
Wikipedia
Word definitions in Wikipedia
In some systems of biological classification , the Protozoa are a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotic organisms. Historically, protozoa were defined as single-celled organisms with animal -like behaviors, such as motility and predation . The group was ...
Usage examples of protozoa.
Fabulously early date of evolution, preceding even simplest Archaean protozoa hitherto known, baffles all conjecture as to origin.
In their guts they harbour colonies of microscopic, one-celled protozoa, which break down the cellulose for them and make it digestible.
The largest taxonomic divisions distinguish between plants and animals, or between those organisms with poorly developed nuclei in their cells (such as bacteria and blue-green algae) and those with very clearly demarcated and elaborately architectured nuclei (such as protozoa or people).
Maybe those ciliated protozoa that had a variant genetic code were descended from some cilia who had been in symbiosis with other cells in the past, developing genetic-code variations for the same safety-net reasons mitochondria had but, unlike the cilia we still retained, had subsequently broken off the symbiosis and returned to stand-alone life.
Into this category I would place many of the protozoa in our alimentary canals.
Because they are born without these protozoa in their intestines, they must acquire them by eating each other's faecal matter.