mucholderthen:
Ernst Haeckel
Kunstformen der Natur (1899)
SLIME MOLD FRUITING BODIES
Myxomycete plasmodia are generally from as small as a few centimeters to several meters square in size (among the largest).
There are two types:
- acellular, consisting of multiple nuclei encased in a single cell wall,
- cellular, which are composites of multiple, individual cells.
Slime molds are thought to be one of the first organisms formed as a collective of individual cells. After slime molds become plasmodial they roam and devour bacteria, fungi, and detritus, moving at a rate of about 1/25th of an inch per hour, or 2 cm per min. among the quicker. At the end of its career as a plasmodium the slime mold settles in a place where there is a draft that can carry aloft its spores, which it releases from structures called “fruiting bodies.”
Myxomycete taxonomy is based on these fruiting bodies.
( source )
(via scientificillustration)
astronomy-to-zoology:
Lightbulb Tunicate (Clavelina huntsmani)
…is a species of social tunicate found on the western seaboard of the Pacific ranging from British Colombia to Southern California. Like most ascidians the lightbulb tunicate is a sessile filter feeder and lives in large clustered colonies. Some species of amphipods and other invertebrates have been known to make residence inside the tunicate’s tunic as well.
Phylogeny
Animalia-Chordata-Tunicata-Ascidiacea-Aplousobranchia-Clavelinidae-Clavelina-huntsmani
Image Source(s)
I found a used tunicate on the street outside my house this morning!
(via rhamphotheca)
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2 weeks ago
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