Evolution: Euglenids (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, January 21, 2024, 16:07 (97 days ago) @ David Turell

Not plant nor animals:

https://www.sciencealert.com/bizarre-fossils-are-neither-plant-nor-animal-but-a-weird-f...

"It is neither animal, vegetable, nor mineral. It's not even a bacterium or fungi.

"It's called a Euglenid – and it's a weird fusion of a bunch of different living things.

Euglenids are a group of unicellular eukaryotes that gain energy through both photosynthesis, like a plant, and through consuming other beings, like an animal.

"These aquatic organisms split off from other eukaryotes roughly a billion years ago, and yet their fossil record for all that time on Earth is scarce.

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"Their similarities over the years have stumped experts, as these fossils span immense timelines, from almost half a billion years ago to the present.

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Using advanced microscopic techniques, they then established the structure of these cysts.

"'We were much surprised by the ultrastructure of the cysts," says paleontologist Wilson Taylor from the University of Wisconsin-Eau-Claire.

"'The structure of the wall does not resemble anything that is known. The ribs are not ornaments, like in pollen and spores, but part of the wall structure. The layered structure of the walls is also clearly different from many other fresh-water green algae."

"Researchers struggle to get living Euglenids to encyst in the lab, but a YouTube video by microscopy enthusiast Fabian Weston from Australia made for a perfect comparison.

""Unwittingly, Fabian provided a key piece of evidence. He is probably the only person on the planet to have witnessed Euglena encyst under a microscope," says Strother.

"Now that the researchers have established a possible deep timeline of Euglenid life, Strother hopes it will make it easier for scientists to recognize even older examples, possibly even ones that "go back to the very root of the eukaryotic tree of life."

""Perhaps related to their capabilities to encyst, these organisms have endured and survived every major extinction on the planet," suggests Van de Schootbrugge

"'Unlike the behemoths that were done in by volcanoes and asteroids, these tiny creatures have weathered it all.'"

Comment: a plant/animal type organism is a reasonable part of evolution.