PROTIST PICTURES / Amoeba proteus image

EXPLANATION OF AMOEBA IMAGE: The images show the fresh water protist (protozoan) Amoeba proteus feeding on small ciliates. Amoebas (amebas) are well known for their highly variable shapes (the word amoeba comes from the Greek for "change"). They move by extending cytoplasmic feet or pseudopodia (single: pseudopod, from the Greek for "false foot"). This type of locomotion is called amoeboid movement. Although amoebas are reasonably amorphous they often have a discernable rear end (uroid), shown here at upper left. Amoebas are unicellular organisms and they reproduce by binary fission.