protist

noun

pro·tist | \ ˈprō-(ˌ)tist

Definition of protist

: any of a diverse taxonomic group and especially a kingdom (Protista synonym Protoctista) of eukaryotic organisms that are unicellular and sometimes colonial or less often multicellular and that typically include the protozoans, most algae, and often some fungi (such as slime molds)

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Nicole King, a biologist at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, found a revealing window on those ancient transitions: choanoflagellates, a group of living protists that seems on the cusp of making the leap to multicellularity. — Elizabeth Pennisi, Science | AAAS, "The momentous transition to multicellular life may not have been so hard after all," 28 June 2018 The scientific name is derived from the twisting motion that helps the protist swim. — Ashley Strickland, CNN, "Meet the top 10 new species of 2018," 23 May 2018 The remainder is distributed among fungi, archaea, protists, animals and viruses, in that order. — The Economist, "A planetary census puts humans in their place," 24 May 2018 Researchers discovered the protist living on a brain coral in a tropical aquarium at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego. — Sean Greene, latimes.com, "A rare great ape, a 130-foot-tall tree and an extinct marsupial lion make the Top 10 New Species list for 2018," 23 May 2018 The organism propels itself with a whip-like tail, called a flagella, and uses unusual harpoon-like structures to stun and consume other protists. — Sean Greene, latimes.com, "A rare great ape, a 130-foot-tall tree and an extinct marsupial lion make the Top 10 New Species list for 2018," 23 May 2018 The new species doesn't fit with any other known groups of protists. — Ashley Strickland, CNN, "Meet the top 10 new species of 2018," 23 May 2018 This allowed him to accidentally discover microorganisms like bacteria and protists, beginning in the 1670s. — Doug Main, The Atlantic, "Humankind’s Most Important Material," 7 Apr. 2018 The ones that Leidy saw are protists—microbes that have more in common with us than with bacteria, but that still consist of a single, tiny cell. — Ed Yong, The Atlantic, "The Microbes That Supercharge Termite Guts," 16 Oct. 2017

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