This is true of dictyostelids, but the majority of slime molds (including all those big enough to see without a microscope) do something quite different! They form groups of clones & when one group meets another they pair off sexually and fuse nuclei before the group fuses into a mobile plasmodium.
I think this is either a Trichia or an Oligonema. They are closely related. These fibers will twitch as they dry, ejecting spores into the wind
The wasp nest slime mold always has red fibers but it has many relatives with yellow fibers. This is one of those relatives
This description fits multiple species of Trichia & Hemitrichia. In Hemitrichia the threads form a connected network while in Trichia they are loose
Nice caption!
These may be a Hemitrichia, based on the shape & color of the short stalks on some of them. I'm not sure though, trichiids are not always easy for me to ID
The relation between slime molds & other kingdoms
A more precise, up to date tree of eukaryotes
Amoebas are found all over the tree of life but most are in Amoebozoa and Rhizaria (a branch of Harosa, or kelps). Amoebozoans are more closely related to Fungi & Animals, while Rhizarian amoebas are more closely related to plants and most have a root-like cytoskeleton extending into their arms.
The relationships between macroscopic lifeforms
This fruiting was made by one single individual amoeba cell. Slime molds like this are Amoebozoans, a clade or natural evolutionary group like Plants, Animals, & Fungi. Six such clades contain all multicellular eukaryotes, with the majority of "animal-like" amoebas found in Amoebozoa
Definitely Lycogala
No slime molds as far as I can tell
Protists are not actually related to each other! They have been relocated to 6 major branches with multicellular life, and to several smaller branches between them
The 6 kingdoms with multicellular life: Plants, Harosans (kelp), Discobans (euglenoids), Amoebozoans (slime molds), Animals, and Fungi. There are a small number of species outside Amoebozoa which are also called slime molds which are microscopic & immobile when aggregated
A less simplified tree of eukaryotes
They're kind of related! Slime molds (Amoebozoans) are more closely related to Animals & Fungi than to Plants, but Animals & Fungi are more closely related to each other than to slime mold. So a shiitake mushroom is more closely related to an elephant than to this chocolate tube slime mold!
Probably Fuligo septica but not mature. A slime mold
Even more bizarre is the fact that despite growing saprophytic mycelium & reproducing via spores, water molds (aka oomycetes) are arguably a type of kelp
Most "planty" amoebas are in Rhizaria ("root") but the Heliozoa are predominately on other branches of Harosa (kelp & relatives). Animal amoebas & Amoebozoa (slime molds) have central microtubules but only actin pseudopods. Fungal amoebas appear to have lost microtubules. Discoban amoebas also lack MT, and their relationship to the other kingdoms are not yet certain
Heliozoa are mostly Stramenopiles & Haptists
Axopods are full of microtubules!
Heliozoa & most other "planty" amoebas have both actin & microtubules in their arms. "Animaly" amoebas only have actin in their arms.
Actin is kind of like muscles & MT are kind of like bones or roots, but it's not a perfect analogy
isolated drum track from st. anger
I always forget too
Oh no, record it?
Yeah I think that is likely!
Have you seen this group a day later? I think these could be Lamproderma
Amoebas are found on every branch seen here but most are found in Amoebozoa (slime molds) or Rhizaria (root amoebas, related to kelp). Both types of amoeba may build mineral houses, but most Rhizarians have stiffer pseudopods (arms or tentacles) because of root-like microtubules inside of them. Both groups contain some multicellular & macroscopic species.
How macroscopic life is related
Everything is related to amoebas because they are not a natural lineage. Some are more closely related to Plants, Fungi, Animals, etc.
Slime molds like Comatricha are a type of amoeba called an Amoebozoan, which IS a natural lineage. Most fruit by myxocarpy, a process unique to Amoebozoa.
There's some evidence they are symbiotic and actually protect plants from some microbes
Hello, slime molds do not break down or consume plants or any kind of dead matter. They mostly eat bacteria and yeasts!
Ate it right up
This is actually a pile of spores made by the world's largest amoeba!
Video is from 1973 by Ed Haskins
Definitely Stemonitis, probably Stemonitis flavogenita
from instagram.com/yeweijun98
