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Comparative Ultrastructure and Systematics of the Colpodida. Structural Conservatism Hypothesis and a Description of Colpoda steinii Maupas *
Author(s) -
LYNN DENIS H.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
the journal of protozoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 0022-3921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1976.tb03776.x
Subject(s) - ciliate , conservatism , ultrastructure , biology , terminology , taxon , evolutionary biology , systematics , protozoa , zoology , ecology , taxonomy (biology) , linguistics , microbiology and biotechnology , political science , philosophy , botany , politics , law
SYNOPSIS. A brief review of the comparative ultrastructure of several major taxa of ciliated protozoa has disclosed a relationship between the level of biologic organization and the supposed conservatism of cellular structures. The structural conservatism hypothesis proposes that conservation of structure through time is inversely related to the level of biologic organization. If true, this hypothesis will provide a rationale for future systematic investigation of ciliates. Comparative analysis of the fine structure of species of the ciliate order Colpodida will be used as a detailed test of the structural conservatism hypothesis. In this report, the ultrastructure of Colpoda steinii Maupas is described and compared to previous descriptions of colpodids. A new terminology for ciliate ultrastructures is proposed which avoids the ambiguities of the present, taxonomically oriented one.