The recently published database: “Functional traits data for testate amoebae of Northern Holarctic realm” should be a very useful resource for anyone interested in the study of testate amoeba traits or the use of traits in (palaeo)ecological analyses. The paper is available here:
A useful resource data base on testate amoeba traits Read More »
A new monograph on hyalospheniid testate amoebae by Anush Kosakyan, Ralf Meisterfeld, Enrique Lara, Clément Duckert and Edward A. D. Mitchell was just released. You can download if here! link
A new monograph on hyalospheniid testate amoebae! Read More »
Two databases of testate amoeba occurrences were recently published by Anatoly Bobrov on the website “Microworld”. The first database is a general database from many places around the world. The second database is on testate amoebae from Sphagnum samples. These two database compile ca. 50 years of research by Anatoly Bobrov. A large proportion of
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Contributed by Matt Amesbury and Alex Whittle (Real!) testate amoeba photos used with the kind permission of Ferry Siemensma, Microworld, www.arcella.nl Matt: As testate amoeba analysts, we all spend countless hours staring down the microscope studying and identifying hundreds upon thousands of shells. Perhaps foolishly, I once added up, out of perverse interest, the
When real life imitates testates: a 2019 ‘Testate amoebae in the real world’ calendar?! Read More »
Contributed by Evelyn Greeves and Richard Payne Hi, I’m Evelyn Greeves, a second-year biology undergrad at University of York making a brief foray into the world of testate amoebae as part of a research scholarship. I’ve been looking at a novel morphotype of Hyalosphenia papilio found at Cors Fochno, a raised, estuarine Sphagnum bog
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Contributed by Edward Mitchell Laboratory of Soil Biodiversity, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland Vincent Jassey recently reported on tropical testate amoebae and especially those living in tank bromeliads (Jassey, 2017). These habitats are absent from higher latitude regions where winter frost would prevent the growth of such plants. Such “unusual” habitats are likely to house
Contributed by Anush Kosakyan It would be hard to find a testate amoeba lover who does not know the genus Quadrulella. These vase-shaped species are a very unique group within family Hyalospheniidae (Arcellinida) since they are capable of secreting their own square or rectangular shell scales (or plates). These scales are characterisstic only for
By Edward A. D. Mitchell, Laboratory of Soil Biodiversity, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland With the advent of high throughput sequencing, estimates of global diversity are being totally revised. For us protistologists – arguably much more importantly – so is the picture of how diversity is distributed among the different branches of the tree of
Contributed by Edward A. D. Mitchell Laboratory of Soil Biodiversity, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland Testate amoebae are well known to be good indicators of micro-environmental gradients and especially soil moisture, water table depth and pH. This has been known since the early 20th century (Harnisch, 1925). The predictable distribution patterns of many species not
