Was looking through some freshwater pond samples one day, and saw this amoeba (Polychaos?) which has managed to engulf an entire Phacus (a photosynthetic euglenid)!
How it managed to ensnare the Phacus with its pseudopodia is beyond me. Phacus is perfectly capable of swimming away. Then again, amoebae are actually kinda scary...
Or what if this euglenid wasn't actually being digested, and would have eventually become a permanent endosymbiont, forming a brand new lineage of photosynthetic amoebozoans with tertiary plastids? And just as this miracle was about to happen, some asshole biologist captures the poor amoeba and kills it. Oh well.
Or what if this euglenid wasn't actually being digested, and would have eventually become a permanent endosymbiont, forming a brand new lineage of photosynthetic amoebozoans with tertiary plastids? And just as this miracle was about to happen, some asshole biologist captures the poor amoeba and kills it. Oh well.
Ha! That was my first twisted thought too - endosymbiont. Another line of evolution down the drain.
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