amoeba
Sign in to saveAlso known as amoeboid
right|thumb|upright=1.5|Clockwise from top right: Amoeba proteus, Actinophrys sol, [[Acanthamoeba sp., Nuclearia thermophila., Euglypha acanthophora, neutrophil ingesting bacteria.]]
~20 min read
Encyclopedic overview
18 sectionsContents
- Biology
- Pseudopods and movement
- Nutrition
- Size range
- Sexual reproduction
- Ecology
- Pathogenic amoebae
- History of knowledge and classification
- Conceptual origins
- Traditional classification
- Transitional period
- Current classification
- Amoeboid cells in other organisms
- Amoeboid cell types in multicellular organisms
- Amoeboid dispersal stages
- References
- Further reading
- External links
right|thumb|upright=1.5|Clockwise from top right: Amoeba proteus, Actinophrys sol, [[Acanthamoeba sp., Nuclearia thermophila., Euglypha acanthophora, neutrophil ingesting bacteria.]]
An amoeba or ameba (: amoebas or amebas (less commonly, amoebae or amebae )), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudopods. Amoebae do not form a single taxonomic group; instead, they are found in every major lineage of eukaryotic organisms. Amoeboid cells occur not only among the protozoa, but also in fungi, algae, and animals.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “amoeba” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.