Filozoa
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
(unranked)	Opisthokonta
(unranked)	Choanozoa or Holozoa
(unranked)	Filozoa
Kingdom and classes
Filasterea Choanoflagellatea Metazoa

The Filozoa are a monophyletic grouping within the Opisthokonta. They include animals along with their nearest unicellular relatives (those organisms which are more closely related to animals than to fungi or Mesomycetozoa).^[1]

Three groups are currently assigned to the clade Filozoa:

• Class Filasterea – recently erected to house the genera Ministeria and Capsaspora
• Class Choanoflagellatea – 'collared' flagellates
• Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa – animals

[edit] Cladogram

Opisthokonta	Fungi Nucleariida Holozoa Mesomycetozoa Filozoa Filasterea Choanoflagellatea Animalia

[edit] Characteristics

The ancestral opisthokont cell is assumed to have possessed slender filose (thread-like) projections or 'tentacles'. In some opisthokonts (Mesomycetozoa and Corallochytrium) these were lost. They are retained in Filozoa, where they are simple and non-tapering, with a rigid core of actin bundles (contrasting with the flexible, tapering and branched filopodia of nucleariids and the branched rhizoids and hyphae of fungi). In choanoflagellates and in the most primitive animals, namely sponges, they aggregate into a filter-feeding collar around the cilium or flagellum; this is thought to be an inheritance from their most recent common filozoan ancestor.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Shalchian-Tabrizi K., Minge M.A., Espelund M., et al. (2008). "Multigene phylogeny of choanozoa and the origin of animals". PLoS ONE 3 (5): e2098. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002098. PMID 18461162. PMC 2346548. http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0002098. 

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v • d • e Eukaryota classification Domain : Archaea - Bacteria - Eukaryota Bikonta AH/SAR AH Archaeplastida, or Plantae sensu lato Viridiplantae/Plantae sensu stricto · Rhodophyta  · Glaucocystophyceae Hacrobia, or non-SAR chromalveolata Haptophyta · Cryptophyta · Centroheliozoa SAR SA Heterokont ("S") Ochrophyta · Bigyra · Pseudofungi Alveolata Ciliates · Myzozoa (Apicomplexa, Dinoflagellata) Rhizaria Cercozoa · Retaria (Foraminifera, Radiolaria) Excavata Discoba (Euglenozoa, Percolozoa) · Metamonad · Malawimonas Apusozoa Apusomonadida (Apusomonas) · Ancyromonadida (Ancyromonas) · Hemimastigida (Hemimastix, Spironema, Stereonema) Unikonta Amoebozoa Lobosea · Conosa · Phalansterium Opisthokonta Holozoa Mesomycetozoea Dermocystida · Ichthyophonida Filozoa Filasterea Capsaspora · Ministeria Choanoflagellatea Codonosigidae Metazoa or "Animalia" Eumetazoa (Bilateria, Cnidaria, Ctenophora) · Mesozoa · Parazoa (Placozoa, Porifera) Fungi Dikarya (Ascomycota, Basidiomycota) · Glomeromycota · Zygomycota · Blastocladiomycota  · Chytridiomycota/Neocallimastigomycota  · Microsporidia sister: Nucleariidae (Nuclearia, Micronuclearia)