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Revision as of 14:59, 27 August 2004 by Josh Grosse (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Rhizaria are a major line of protists. They vary considerably in form, but for the most part they are amoeboids with filose, reticulose, or microtubule-supported pseudopods. Many produce shells or skeletons, which may be quite complex in structure; these make up the vast majority of protozoan fossils. The main groups of Rhizaria are the Cercozoa, Foraminifera, and radiolarians, considered close relatives based on genetic studies; they may be regarded as an extension of the Cercozoa, which are already a heterogenous group defined mainly by genetics.
The name Rhizaria was introduced by Cavalier-Smith in 2002. Originally the centrohelids and apusomonads were included, but they do not appear to be close relatives of the other groups.
References
- Cavalier-Smith, T. (2002). The phagotrophic origin of eukaryotes and phylogenetic classification of Protozoa. International Journal of Systematic and Evoluionary Microbiology 52: 297-354.
- Sergey I. Nikolaev et al. (2004). The twilight of the Heliozoa and rise of the Rhizaria, an emerging supergroup of amoeboid eukaryotes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101: 8066-8071.