The New Higher Level Classification of Eukaryotes with Emphasis on the Taxonomy of Protists

Abstract

This revision of the classification of unicellular eukaryotes updates that of Levine et al. (1980) for the protozoa and expands it to include other protists. Whereas the previous revision was primarily to incorporate the results of ultrastructural studies, this revision incorporates results from both ultrastructural research since 1980 and molecular phylogenetic studies. We propose a scheme that is based on nameless ranked systematics. The vocabulary of the taxonomy is updated, particularly to clarify the naming of groups that have been repositioned. We recognize six clusters of eukaryotes that may represent the basic groupings similar to traditional "kingdoms." The multicellular lineages emerged from within monophyletic protist lineages: animals and fungi from Opisthokonta, plants from Archaeplastida, and brown algae from Stramenopiles.

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Affiliated Institutions

• New York State Department of Health US
• University of Guelph CA
• University of Connecticut US
• Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory US
• Royal Ontario Museum CA
• Forest Products Laboratory US
• University of Louisiana at Lafayette US
• University of Toronto CA
• University of Arkansas at Fayetteville US
• Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh GB
• University of British Columbia CA
• Duke University US
• University of Copenhagen DK
• Bedford Institute of Oceanography CA
• University of Georgia US
• Michigan State University US
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign US
• Geological Survey of Canada CA
• Herzen University RU
• Wadsworth Center US
• Université Clermont Auvergne FR
• Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences US
• Natural Resources Canada CA
• Dalhousie University CA
• St Petersburg University RU
• George Mason University US
• Colorado State University US

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