Animal-like Protists

1
Animal-like Protists

• At one time animal-like protists were called
  protozoa, which means first animals, and were
  classified separately from more plant-like
  protists. Like animals these organisms are all
  heterotrophs. Unlike animals they are all made of
  only one cell. The four phyla of animal-like
  protists are classified based on their method of
  movement.
• For example, ciliates move using cilia, or
  hair-like projections. Flagellates move using
  flagella, or whip-like projections. Sacrodines
  move using extensions of their cytoplasm, and
  sporozoans do not move at all.

2
Plant-like Protists

• Many protist contain the green pigment
  chlorophyll and carry out photosynthesis. Many of
  these organisms are highly motile, or able to
  move about freely. Despite this, the fact that
  they perform photosynthesis is so important that
  we group these protists in a separate category,
  the plant-like protists.
• Plant-like protists are called algae. Algae may
  be unicellular or multicellular, and many have
  cell walls like plants. Unlike plants they do not
  have roots, stems and leaves. Examples of algae
  range from unicellular euglena to multicellular
  brown algae, more commonly called seaweed.

3
Fungus-like Protists

• If you were to talk a walk through a forest after
  a long rain, you may see patches of what looks
  like brightly colored mold. Fungus-like protists
  grow in damp or moist environments and have
  sometimes been classified as fungi even though
  their cellular structure more closely resembles
  that of the protists.
• Like fungi, the fungus-like protists are
  heterotrophs that feed from dead or decaying
  organic matter. But, unlike fungi, fungus-like
  protists lack chitin cells walls of true fungi.
  The fungus-like protists include the cellular
  slime molds, acellular slime molds and the water
  molds.