| Unikonts | |
|---|---|
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| Orange elephant ear sponge, Agelas clathrodes, in foreground. Two corals in the background: a sea fan, Iciligorgia schrammi, and a sea rod, Plexaurella nutans. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| (unranked): | Unikonta Cavalier-Smith, 2002 |
| Subgroups | |
| Synonyms | |
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Unikonts are one of the five superkingdoms in the classification of eukaryotes. They are part of the taxonomy system of Thomas Cavalier-Smith.
Clade
The group is claimed to be a clade. It includes eukaryotic cells that:
The unikonts include opisthokonts (animals, fungi, and related forms) and Amoebozoa. By contrast other well-known eukaryotic groups are often referred to as bikonts. Bikonts include Archaeplastida (plants and relatives), Excavata, Rhizaria, and Chromalveolata. These groups may have two flagella (although there are many exceptions).
Characteristics
The unikonts have a triple-gene fusion that is lacking in the bikonts. The three genes code for enzymes which make pyrimidine nucleotides. This must have involved a double gene fusion, a rare pair of events, which supports the shared ancestry of Opisthokonta and Amoebozoa.
