Protoheterotrichida is an order of karyorelict ciliates. It contains the family

Geleiidae Geleiidae is a family of karyorelict ciliates. It is sometimes synonymized with family Aveliidae. Geleiidae are very large ciliates (200–5000 µm), with a cylindrical shape, and a thinner, often beak-shaped, apical region. They are charac ...

. The term ''Protoheterotrichida'' derives from the three

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

words (), meaning "first, earliest, most prominent", (), meaning "another, different", and , (), meaning "hair", in reference to the potential evolutionary affinities of these ciliates with the

heterotrich The heterotrichs are a class of ciliates. They typically have a prominent adoral zone of membranelles circling the mouth, used in locomotion and feeding, and shorter cilia on the rest of the body. Many species are highly contractile, and are ...

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* {{Taxonbar, from=Q25407553 Karyorelictea Ciliate orders