Opisthokonta

Opisthokonta is a eukaryotic supergroup containing animals, fungi, and several related unicellular lineages. Its members are united by evolutionary ancestry, not by a shared lifestyle or body form.

Eukaryote: An organism whose cells contain a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles. Opisthokonta is one major branch within this broader domain of life.
Molecular phylogenetics: The study of evolutionary relationships using comparisons of DNA, RNA, or protein sequences. Sequence comparisons help identify the shared ancestry of opisthokont branches.
Choanoflagellate: A single-celled or colonial eukaryote bearing a collar of microvilli around a flagellum. Choanoflagellates are the closest living relatives of animals among known unicellular groups.
Last eukaryotic common ancestor: The most recent ancestral population from which all living eukaryotes descend. Opisthokonts arose long after the ancestor shared by all eukaryotes.
Animal multicellularity: The condition in which animal cells form an integrated, typically developmentally coordinated organism. Opisthokont relatives provide comparisons for identifying innovations associated with animal multicellularity.
Holozoa: The opisthokont lineage comprising animals and their closest unicellular relatives. It contains animals alongside several single-celled lineages within Opisthokonta.
Phylogenomics: The reconstruction of evolutionary history using genome-scale molecular data. Genome-wide evidence tests relationships among animals, fungi, and unicellular relatives.
Nucleariid: A group of amoeboid eukaryotes regarded as close relatives of fungi. Nucleariids illustrate the unicellular ancestry adjacent to the fungal lineage.
Animal evolution: The evolutionary history through which animals diversified from ancestral eukaryotic lineages. Animal origins occurred within the Holozoa branch of Opisthokonta.
Fungal multicellularity: The organization of fungal cells into persistent multicellular structures, often composed of hyphae. The fungal branch shows that complex multicellularity evolved separately from the animal condition.

Linked from 10 pages