Ref ID : 5918
Denis H. Lynn; Comparative ultrastructure and systematics of the Colpodida. An ultrastructural description of Colpoda maupasi Enriquez, 1908. Can.J.Zool. 54:405-420, 1976
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Structural variation at different levels of biological organization is considered important to the systematics of ciliated protozoa. Analysis of the ultrastructural literature on ciliates led to the structural-conservatism hypothesis, which has been formulated to account for the variation of ultrastructural components, primarily microtubular, in the cortex of diverse ciliate genera. The hypothesis proposes that the conservation of structure through time is inversely related to the level of biological organization. This study presents a light microscopic and ultrastructural description of Colpoda maupasi Enriquez, 1908. Comparison of C. maupasi with other species of the Colpodida supports the structural-conservatism hypothesis. With this hypothesis, several relational inconsistencies are demonstrated in the present scheme of classification of the ciliates.