The Classification of Lower Organisms
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The Classification of Lower Organisms Ernst Hkinrich Haickei, in 1874 From Rolschc (1906). By permission of Macrae Smith Company. C f3 The Classification of LOWER ORGANISMS By HERBERT FAULKNER COPELAND \ PACIFIC ^.,^,kfi^..^ BOOKS PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA Copyright 1956 by Herbert F. Copeland Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 56-7944 Published by PACIFIC BOOKS Palo Alto, California Printed and bound in the United States of America CONTENTS Chapter Page I. Introduction 1 II. An Essay on Nomenclature 6 III. Kingdom Mychota 12 Phylum Archezoa 17 Class 1. Schizophyta 18 Order 1. Schizosporea 18 Order 2. Actinomycetalea 24 Order 3. Caulobacterialea 25 Class 2. Myxoschizomycetes 27 Order 1. Myxobactralea 27 Order 2. Spirochaetalea 28 Class 3. Archiplastidea 29 Order 1. Rhodobacteria 31 Order 2. Sphaerotilalea 33 Order 3. Coccogonea 33 Order 4. Gloiophycea 33 IV. Kingdom Protoctista 37 V. Phylum Rhodophyta 40 Class 1. Bangialea 41 Order Bangiacea 41 Class 2. Heterocarpea 44 Order 1. Cryptospermea 47 Order 2. Sphaerococcoidea 47 Order 3. Gelidialea 49 Order 4. Furccllariea 50 Order 5. Coeloblastea 51 Order 6. Floridea 51 VI. Phylum Phaeophyta 53 Class 1. Heterokonta 55 Order 1. Ochromonadalea 57 Order 2. Silicoflagellata 61 Order 3. Vaucheriacea 63 Order 4. Choanoflagellata 67 Order 5. Hyphochytrialea 69 Class 2. Bacillariacea 69 Order 1. Disciformia 73 Order 2. Diatomea 74 Class 3. Oomycetes 76 Order 1. Saprolegnina 77 Order 2. Peronosporina 80 Order 3. Lagenidialea 81 Class 4. Melanophycea 82 Order 1 . Phaeozoosporea 86 Order 2. Sphacelarialea 86 Order 3. Dictyotea 86 Order 4. Sporochnoidea 87 V ly Chapter Page Orders. Cutlerialea 88 Order 6. Laminariea 89 Order 7. Fucoidea 91 VII. Phylum Pyrrhophyta 94 Class Mastigophora 95 Order 1. Cryptomonadalea 96 Order 2. Adiniferidea 98 Order 3. Cystoflagellata 99 Order 4. Cilioflagellata 102 Order 5. Astoma 105 VIII. Phylum Opisthokonta 110 Class Archimycetes Ill Order 1. Monoblepharidalea Ill Order 2. Chytridinea 113 IX. Phylum Inophyta 119 Class 1. Zygomycetes 121 Order 1. Mucorina 121 Order 2. Entomophthorinea 124 Class 2. Ascomycetes 125 Order 1. Endomycetalea 129 Order 2. Mucedines 130 Order 3. Perisporiacea 131 Order 4. Phacidialea 133 Order 5. Cupulata 134 Order 6. Exoascalea 137 Order 7. Sclerocarpa 137 Order 8. Laboulbenialea 140 Class 3. Hyphomycetes 140 Order 1. Phomatalea .... 141 Order 2. Melanconialea 141 Order 3. Nematothecia 141 Class 4. Basidiomycetes 142 Order 1. Protobasidiomycetes 146 Order 2. Hypodermia 147 Order 3. Ustilaginea 149 Order 4. Tremcllina 149 Order 5. Dacryomycetalea 150 Order 6. Fungi 150 Order 7. Dermatocarpa 152 X. Phylum Protoplasta 157 Class 1. Zoomastigoda 157 Order 1. Rhizoflagellata 158 Order 2. Polymastigida 163 Order 3. Trichomonadina 166 Order 4. Hypcrmastiglna 168 Class 2. Mycetozoa 171 Order 1. Enteridiea 171 Order 2. Exosporea 177 vi Chapter Page Order 3. Phytomyxida 177 Class 3. Rhizopoda 179 Order 1. Monosomatia 183 Order 2. Miliolidea 185 Order 3. Foraminifera . 185 Order 4. Globigerinidea 187 Order 5. Nummulidnidea 188 Class 4. Heliozoa 189 Order 1. Radioflagellata 190 Order 2. Radiolaria 194 Order 3. Acantharia 195 Order 4. Monopylaria 198 Orders. Phaeosphaeria 198 Class 5. Sarkodina 200 Order 1. Nuda 201 Order 2. Lampramoebae 205 XI. Phylum Fungilli 206 Class 1. Sporozoa 207 Order 1. Oligosporea 209 Order 2. Polysporea 211 Order 3. Gymnosporidiida 211 Order 4. Dolichocystida 214 Orders. Schizogregarinida 215 Order 6. Monocystidea 215 Order 7. Polycystidea 216 Order 8. Haplosporidiidea 218 Class 2. Neosporidia 219 Order 1. Phaenocystes 219 Order 2. Actinomyxida 221 Order 3. Cryptocystes 222 XII. Phylum Ciliophora 223 Class 1. Infusoria 228 Order 1. Opalinalea 228 Order 2. Holotricha 229 Order 3. Heterotricha 230 Order 4. Hypotricha 233 Order 5. Stomatoda 233 Class 2. Tentaculifera 235 Order Suctoria 235 List of Nomenclatural Novelties 237 Bibliography 238 Index 271 VII LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Portrait of Ernst Heinrich Haeckel Frontispiece Figure Page 1. Structure of cells of blue-green algae 13 2. Photographs of Escherichia coli . 15 3. Caulobacterialea; Myxobactralea; Cristispira Veneris 26 4. Coccogonea; Gloiophycea 32 5. Bangialea 42 6. Nuclear phenomena in Polysiphonia violacea 45 7. Heterocarpea 48 8. Ochromonadalea 54 9. Ochromonadalea; Silicoflagellata 56 10. Vaucheriacea 64 11. Choanoflagellata 68 12. Hyphochytrialea 70 13. Bacillariacea 72 14. Oomycetes 78 15. Stages of nuclear division in Stypocaulon 84 16. Familiar kelps of Pacific North America 90 17. Microscopic reproductive structures of Laminaria yezoensis ... 92 18. Cryptomonadalea 97 19. Cystoflagellata; Cilioflagellata 104 20. Astoma 106 21. Astoma 108 22. Monoblepharidalea 114 23. Chytridinea 116 24. Zygomycetes 122 25. Ascomycetes 132 26. Ascomycetes 136 27. Mycosphaerella personata 138 28. Basidiomycetes 144 29. Fruits of Agaricacea 153 30. Rhizoflagellata 160 31. Polymastigida; Trichomonadina 164 32. Hypermastigina 170 33. Mycetozoa 176 34. Ceratiomyxafruticulosa 178 35. Life cycle of "Tretomphalus" i. e., Discorbis or Cymbalo pora . 180 36. Shells of Rhizopoda 184 37. Radioflagellata 192 38. Radiolaria; Acantharia; Monopylaria; Phaeosphaeria 196 39. Chaos Protheus 200 40. Sarkodina 204 41. Life cycle of Goussia Schuhergi 208 42. LUe cycle of Plasmodium; Babesia bigemina 212 43. Life cycle of Myxoceros Blennius 220 44. Infusoria, order Hypotricha 232 45. Tokophrya Lemnarum 234 ix Chapter I INTRODUCTION The purpose of this work is to persuade the community of biologists that the ac- cepted primary classification of living things as two kingdoms, plants and animals, should be abandoned; that the kingdoms of plants and animals are to be given definite limits, and that the organisms excluded from them are to be organized as two other kingdoms. The names of the additional kingdoms, as fixed by generally accepted principles of nomenclature, appear to be respectively Mychota and Protoctista. These ideas originated, so far as I am concerned, in the instruction of Edwin Bingham Copeland, my father, who, when I was scarcely of high school age, admitted me to his college course in elementary botany. He thought it right to teach freshmen the fundamental principles of classification. These include the following: The kinds of organisms constitute a system of groups; the groups and the system exist in nature, and are to be discovered by man, not devised or constructed. The system is of a definite and peculiar pattern. By every feature of this pattern, we are inductively convinced that the kinds of organisms, the groups, and the system are products of evolution. It is this system that is properly designated the natural system or the natural classification of organisms. It is only by metaphor or ellipsis that these terms can be applied to systems formulated by men and published in books. Men have developed a classification of organisms which may be called the taxo- nomic system. Its function—the purpose for which men have constructed it—is to serve as an index to all that is known about organisms. This system is subject to cer- tain conventions which experience has shown to be expedient. Among natural groups, there are intergradations; taxonomic groups are conceived as sharply limited. Natural groups are not of definite grades; taxonomic groups are assigned to grades. When we say that Pisces and Filicineae are classes, we are expressing a fact of human conven- ience, not a fact of nature. The names assigned to groups are obviously conventional. Since the taxonomic system represents knowledge, and since knowledge is ad- vancing, this system is inherently subject to change. It is the right and duty of every person who thinks that the taxonomic system can be improved to propose to change it. A salutary convention requires that proposals in taxonomy be unequivocal: one proposes a change by publishing it as in effect; it comes actually into effect in the degree that the generality of students of classification accept it. The changes which are accepted are those which appear to make the taxonomic system, within its conven- tions, a better representation of the natural system. Different presentations of the taxonomic system are related to the natural system as pictures of a tree, by artists of different degrees of skill or of different schools, are related to the actual tree; the taxonomic system is a conventionalized representation of the natural system so far as the natural system is known. These statements are intended to make several points. First, as a personal matter, advancement of knowledge of natural classification, and corresponding improvement of the taxonomic system, have been my purpose during the greater part of a normal lifetime. Secondly, I have pursued this purpose, and continue to pursue it, under the guidance of principles which all students of classification will accept (perhaps with variations in the words in which they are stated). In the third place, I have tried to answer the question which scientists other than students of classification, and likewise the laity, are always asking us: why can one not leave accepted classification undis- 2 ] The Classification of Lower Organisms turbed? One proposes changes in order to express what one supposes to be improved knowledge of the kinds of organisms which belong together as facts of nature. If here I place bacteria in a different kingdom from plants, and Infusoria in a different king- dom from animals, it is because I believe that everyone will have a better understand- ing of each of these four groups if he does not think of any two of them as belonging to the same kingdom. The course of evolution believed to have produced those features of the natural system to which the present work gives taxonomic expression is next to be described. Life originated on this earth, by natural processes, under conditions other than those of the present, once only. These are the opinions of Oparin ( 1938) 1, and appear sound, although some of the details which he suggested may not be. When the crust of the earth first became cool, it was covered by an atmosphere of ammonia, water vapor, and methane, and by an ocean containing the gases in the atmosphere above it and minerals dissolved from the crust.