But why does an amoeba need horns on its shell? They're quite carefully made, with flat plates neatly glued around them (possibly scales from another organism). The spheres around the mouth are siliceous resting cysts of chrysophyte algae. #ProtistsonSky #MEvoSky #Amoebae #Peatlands - ThreadSky

brucedstaylor.bsky.social • 5 days ago

But why does an amoeba need horns on its shell? They're quite carefully made, with flat plates neatly glued around them (possibly scales from another organism). The spheres around the mouth are siliceous resting cysts of chrysophyte algae. #ProtistsonSky #MEvoSky #Amoebae #Peatlands

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brianecambs.bsky.social•4 days ago

Stunning image! Is that Difflugia leidyi? I can barely see the plates on the horns/arms under a light microscope. And thanks for explaining the spheres. I'd noticed them on some of my samples: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cladoniophile/54111536316/in/photolist-2qrzhs4-2qrzhSN-2qrzhWR-2qrDLtk-2qrDLtv-2qrDLwG-2qrDLya-2qrDLMB-2qrF6CC-2qrFstm-2qrFsYE-2qrG78q-2qrG7cy-2qrG7tk-2qQoRjW-2qQtiAQ-2qQtiDq-2qQuovW-2qQuoJM-2qQuoKi-2qQuoLR-2qQuxwv-2qQuxwA-2qQuxN2-2qQuxNN-2qrzhqL-2qrzic5-2qrzicR-2qrF6DK-2qrFsXx-2qrFsZm-2qrG6BL-2qrG6D9-2qrG7sD and wondered what they were.

brucedstaylor.bsky.social•4 days ago

Also...that's a really nice picture!

brianecambs.bsky.social•4 days ago

Thanks! I'm just getting into the group. Good to hear what you say about Leidy - his monograph is gorgeous, but unfortunately my copy is in need of re-binding. Seems strange that there's more comprehensive literature from 19ths and early 20th century than recently - Cash, Wailes etc still useful

brucedstaylor.bsky.social•4 days ago

My copy of Leidy needs a new binding too. Customs agents slashed the spine with boxcutter while checking to see what kind of contraband I might be importing. The nearest modern equivalent to Cash, Wailes & Hopkinson, or Penard, is Ferry Siemensma's fabulous website!

brianecambs.bsky.social•4 days ago

Ouch! Mine just has loose pages. Yes, a stunning website. I also like https://ab.pensoft.net/article/38685/ free to download. A shame it's only for Bulgarian peatlands.. and strangely, they list D. leidyi as a synonym of D. elegans, which seems a bit unlikely, given how very consistent it seems to be.

brucedstaylor.bsky.social•4 days ago

The Todorov & Bankov "atlas" is nice. It includes morphometric tables...very handy! D. leidyi was synonymized w/ D. elegans by Mazei & Warren in 2012. I'm skeptical, too, but shd add that consistently distinct phenotypes can be molecularly identical (see Hyalosphenia papilio paynei).

brucedstaylor.bsky.social•4 days ago

Yup, Difflugia leidyi...named for Joseph Leidy, who found a single specimen of the morphotype, which he didn't give a name. He was careful, that way, reluctant to create new taxa. :)

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