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Microfauna (from Ancient Greek mikros 'small' and from Latin fauna 'animal') are microscopic animals and organisms that exhibit animal-like qualities and have body sizes that are usually <0.1mm. [1] [2] Microfauna are represented in the animal kingdom (e.g. nematodes, small arthropods) and the protist kingdom (i.e. protozoans). A large amount ...
Phytoplankton are photosynthesizing microscopic protists and bacteria that inhabit the upper sunlit layer of marine and fresh water bodies of water on Earth. Paralleling plants on land, phytoplankton undertake primary production in water, [2] creating organic compounds from carbon dioxide dissolved in the water.
At first, microscopic organisms were classified within the animal and plant kingdoms. However, by the mid–19th century, it had become clear to many that "the existing dichotomy of the plant and animal kingdoms [had become] rapidly blurred at its boundaries and outmoded".
Microorganisms are diverse and include all bacteria and archaea, most protozoa such as algae, fungi, and certain microscopic animals such as rotifers. Many macroscopic animals and plants have microscopic juvenile stages. Some microbiologists also classify viruses (and viroids) as microorganisms, but others consider these as nonliving. [85] [86]
Schwann dedicated a chapter of the treatise to explicitly formulate the cell theory, stating that ("the elementary parts of all tissues are formed of cells” and that “there is one universal principle of development for the elementary parts of organisms... and this principle is in the formation of cells" (Henry Smith's translation, 1847).
Microalgae or microphytes are microscopic algae invisible to the naked eye. They are phytoplankton typically found in freshwater and marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. [1] They are unicellular species which exist individually, or in chains or groups. Depending on the species, their sizes can range from a few ...
Many animals live in terrestrial environments by thriving in transient often microscopic bodies of water and moisture, these include rotifers and gastrotrichs which lay resilient eggs capable of surviving years in dry environments, and some of which can go dormant themselves. Nematodes are usually microscopic with this lifestyle.
Protists are eukaryotes that cannot be classified as plants, fungi or animals. They are usually single-celled and microscopic. Life originated as single-celled prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) and later evolved into more complex eukaryotes. Eukaryotes are the more developed life forms known as plants, animals, fungi and protists.