Protozoology is the study of
protozoa
Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...
, the "animal-like" (i.e.,
motile
Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy.
Definitions
Motility, the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy, can be contrasted with sessility, the state of organisms th ...
and
heterotroph
A heterotroph (; ) is an organism that cannot produce its own food, instead taking nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter. In the food chain, heterotrophs are primary, secondary and tertiary consumers, but ...
ic)
protists
A protist () is any eukaryotic organism (that is, an organism whose cells contain a cell nucleus) that is not an animal, plant, or fungus. While it is likely that protists share a common ancestor (the last eukaryotic common ancestor), the excl ...
. The Protozoa are considered to be a subkingdom of Protista. They are free-living organisms that are found in almost every habitat. All humans have protozoan found living on their body, and many people may be infected with one or more throughout their life.
Anton van Leeuwenhoek was the first person to discover Protozoa using a microscope that he constructed himself. This term has become dated as an understanding of the evolutionary relationships of the
eukaryotes
Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacte ...
has improved. For example, the Society of Protozoologists, founded in 1947, was renamed International Society of
Protistologists in 2005. However, the term persists in some cases (e.g., the Polish journal ''Acta Protozoologica'').
Example: The study of Amoebae and Plasmodium is done by protozoologists.
Example: Toxoplasmosis and giardiasis are diseases caused by protozoa.
Example: Cryptosporidium is a parasitic protozoan, that is found in the intestinal tract.
External links
The Society of Protozoologists* Corliss, J. O. (1978). A salute to fifty-four great microscopists of the past: a pictorial footnote to the history of protozoology. Part I. ''Transactions of the American Microscopical Society'', 97: 419-458
* Corliss, J. O. (1979). A salute to fifty-four great microscopists of the past: a pictorial footnote to the history of protozoology. Part II. ''Transactions of the American Microscopical Society'', 98: 26-58
* Corliss, J. O. (1997). Some Important Anniversaries in the History of Protozoology. ''Rev. Soc. Mex. Hist. Nat.'' 47: 5-17
* Vickerman, K., Sleigh, M., Leadbetter, B., & McCready, S. (2000). A Century of Protozoology in Britain. British Section of the Society of Protozoologists, London
* Wolf, M., & Hausmann, K. (2001). Protozoology from the perspective of science theory: history and concept of a biological discipline. ''Linzer biol. Beitr.'' 33: 461-488
References
Protista
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