The euglenozoa are a large group of flagellate Excavata. They include a variety of common free-living species, as well as a few important parasites, some of which infect humans. There are two main subgroups, the euglenids and kinetoplastids. Euglenozoa are unicellular, mostly around 15–40 μm (0.00059–0.00157 in) in size, although some euglenids get up to 500 μm (0.020 in) long.
Excavata is a major supergroup of unicellular organisms belonging to the domain Eukaryota. It was first suggested by Simpson and Patterson in 1999 and introduced by Thomas Cavalier-Smith in 2002 as a formal taxon. It contains a variety of free-living and symbiotic forms, and also includes some important parasites of humans, including Giardia and Trichomonas. Excavates were formerly considered to be included in the now obsolete Protista kingdom. They are classified based on their flagellar structures, and they are considered to be the most basal Flagellate lineage. Phylogenomic analyses split the members of the Excavates into three different and not all closely related groups: Discobids, Metamonads and Malawimonads. Except for Euglenozoa, they are all non-photosynthetic.
The metamonads are microscopic eukaryotic organisms, a large group of flagellate amitochondriate Loukozoa. Their composition is not entirely settled, but they include the retortamonads, diplomonads, and possibly the parabasalids and oxymonads as well. These four groups are all anaerobic, occurring mostly as symbiotes or parasites of animals, as is the case with Giardia lamblia which causes diarrhea in mice.
Discicristata is a proposed eukaryotic clade.
Amorphea are members of a taxonomic supergroup that includes the basal Amoebozoa and Obazoa. That latter contains the Opisthokonta, which includes the Fungi, Animals and the Choanomonada, or Choanoflagellates. The taxonomic affinities of the members of this clade were originally described and proposed by Thomas Cavalier-Smith in 2002.
Malawimonadidae is a group of unicellular eukaryotes of outsize importance in understanding eukaryote phylogeny.
Micronuclearia is a genus of free-living protozoa. While originally thought to be a nucleariid, as reflected in the name, it is now inferred to be a member of the taxon Rigifilida, and to belong to the 'CRuMs' assemblage.
Breviata anathema is a single-celled flagellate amoeboid eukaryote, previously studied under the name Mastigamoeba invertens. The cell lacks mitochondria but has remnant mitochondrial genes, and possesses an organelle believed to be a modified anaerobic mitochondrion, similar to the mitosomes and hydrogenosomes found in other eukaryotes that live in low-oxygen environments.
Trichozoa is a group of excavates.
Anaeromonadea is a class of excavates, comprising the oxymonads and Trimastix.
The Apusomonadida are a group of protozoan zooflagellates that glide on surfaces, and mostly consume prokaryotes. They are of particular evolutionary interest because they appear to be the sister group to the Opisthokonts, the clade as that includes both animals and fungi. Together with the Breviatea, these form the Obazoa clade.
Ancyromonadida or Planomonadida is a small group of biflagellated protists found in the soil and in aquatic habitats, where they feed on bacteria. Includes freshwater or marine organisms, benthic, dorsoventrally compressed and with two unequal flagellae, each emerging from a separate pocket. The apical anterior flagellum can be very thin or end in the cell membrane, while the posterior flagellum is long and is inserted ventrally or laterally. The cell membrane is supported by a thin single layer teak and the mitochondrial crests are discoidal / flat.
Percolatea are a class of excavates in the phylum Percolozoa.
Rigifila ramosa is one of the two members of the Rigifilida. It differs from the other member Micronuclearia podoventralis by having two pellicular layers covering the cell instead of a single one. Dorsal filopodia are also thicker and more conspicuous than in Micronuclearia.
Podiates are a proposed clade containing the Amorphea and the organisms now assigned to the clade CRuMs. Ancyromonadida does not appear to have emerged in this grouping. Sarcomastigota is a proposed subkingdom that includes all the podiates that are not animals or fungi. Sulcozoa is a proposed phylum within Sarcomastigota that does not include the phyla Amoebozoa (clade) and Choanozoa (paraphyletic), i.e. it includes the proposed subphyla Apusozoa and Varisulca
Varisulca was a proposed basal Podiate taxon. It encompassed several lineages of heterotrophic protists, most notably the ancyromonads (planomonads), collodictyonids (diphylleids), rigifilids and mantamonadids. Recent evidence suggests that the latter three are closely related to each other, forming a clade called CRuMs, but that this is unlikely to be specifically related to ancyromonads
Aphelida is a phylum of Fungi that appear to be sister to true fungi.
The Orthokaryotes are a proposed Eukaryote clade consisting of the Jakobea and the Neokaryotes. Together with its sister Discicristata it forms a basal Eukaryote clade. They are characterized by stacked Golgi, orthogonal centrioles, and two opposite posterior ciliary roots.
The neokaryotes are a proposed eukaryote clade consisting of the unikonts and the bikonts as sister of for instance the Jakobea. It arises because the Euglenozoa, Percolozoa, Tsukubea, and Jakobea are seen in this view as more basal eukaryotes. These four groups, are traditionally grouped together in the Discoba. However, the Discoba may well be paraphyletic as the neokaryotes may have emerged in them.
The Scotokaryotes (Cavalier-Smith) is a proposed basal Neokaryote clade as sister of the Diaphoretickes. Basal Scotokaryote groupings are the Metamonads, the Malawimonas and the Podiata. In this phylogeny the Discoba are sometimes seen as paraphyletic and basal Eukaryotes.
