Chapter 19.1, Problem 5MI

Summary Introduction

To analyse: 

The characteristics that are used to classify protists.  

Introduction:

Protists are diverse group of eukaryotic organisms, but they are not animals, plants, or fungi because they do not have all the necessary characteristics to place them in their kingdoms. Most protists are single-celled but some are multicellular. Protists are diverse in process of taking food and ways of reproduction.

Explanation of Solution

Due to diverse group of organisms, protists are divided into three groups, plant-like, animal-like and fungus-like on the basis of the method of obtaining food.

The characteristics that are used to classify protists is given in the table:

Type of protists	Characteristic	Example
Animal-like	Heterotopic mode of nutrition. They ingest bacteria and algae.	Amoeba, Paramoecium
Plant-like	Autotrophs, photosynthetic. Make their own food	Algae
Fungus-like	Obtain nutrients from dead organisms	Water mould

Conclusion

Protists are animal-like, plant like and fungus like diverse group of eukaryotic organisms with diverse in process of taking food and ways of reproduction.