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KINGDOM AMOEBOZOAE

Organisms in this kingdom tend to make lobopod pseudopodia and have mitochondria with tubular cristae (Margulis and Schwartz, 1998; Barnes, 1984). They generally share the amoeboid or pseudopodial growth form.  They all have golgi and undergo closed nuclear division with internal spindles.  Some are motile, or can produce motile gametes or swarmer cells.  Even though these characters are not exclusive to the Amoebozoae, they do emerge as a monophyletic group in supertree analyses (Baldauf, 2003; Keeling, 2004; Nikolaev et al. 2004).   

The apusomonads are more problematic as a group.  Kuhn et al. (2000) show them emerging as a sister to the amoebozoa+animalia+fungi+glaucophyte+chlorophyte +haptophyte clade.  Cavalier-Smith (2002) shows the apusozoans+amoebozoans as a monophyletic group.  Cavalier-Smith (2003), Nikolaev et al. (2004), and Berney et al. (2004) also interpret molecular phylogenetic analysis to suggest that they are sisters to all other bikont taxa (all organisms outside of the Unikonts).  However, Cavalier-Smith and Chao (2003) claim that the apusomonads evolved from unikont amoebae by the addition of a second flagellum (at the base of the bikont line, see a Figure modified from Cavalier-Smith and Chao, 2003) and that they are related to the heliozoa (sic).  Kim et al. (2006) examined the position of Apusomonas (a free-living bikont cell) and concluded that it was a sister to the Opisthokonts and the Amoebozoans were sisters to the Opisthokonts+Apusomonas.   Nevertheless, I include the Apusozoa here with uncertain status.  (The Domain Eukarya Page)

Concepts and Terms

A more complete taxonomy (to the ordinal level) of the Kingdom Amoebozoae.