• Question: What is an Amoeba

    Asked by shootingstargazer to Cassie, Greg, Karen, Sofia, Tommy on 18 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Cassandra Raby

      Cassandra Raby answered on 18 Nov 2013:

      I love amoeba! I even have a teddy one that Leeds Uni gave me when I left.

      So, amoeba are single cells that live on their lonesome. So all their breathing, eating and moving is done with just this one cell – that’s their whole body.

      So there are different types of amoeba. I’ve just finished working on Testate amoeba. These produce pretty shells (or tests) to go around their cell.. to make them more protected. I used to study these to find out what the climate used to be like in the past!

      Now the ones I study at the moment are amoeba that cause disease! These guys don’t have shells.. and they invade your intestine!

      So they are a pretty cool group of animals

    • Photo: Karen Bacon

      Karen Bacon answered on 18 Nov 2013:

      Amoeba are tiny, single-celled protozoa. They’re really interesting and they are easy to observe under even a simple light microscope. They can move around by pseudopodia and engulf their food and then digest it. There is a type of amoeba called testate amoeba that are commonly found in bogs and can be used to help interpret the climate that the bog developed in! They differ from other amoeba by having a “test” which is similar to a shell.

    • Photo: Sofia Franco

      Sofia Franco answered on 19 Nov 2013:

      I think they have already explained what they are pretty well (dam, I am slow in these replies 😉 need to be faster!)…basically though they look like shapeless, their form is incredible! Check this article and the microscope pictures!
      http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artsep01/amoeba.html

    • Photo: Thomas Doherty-Bone

      Thomas Doherty-Bone answered on 19 Nov 2013:

      Single celled organisms, eukaryotic methinks. Protozoan (=”first animal”). Usually cannae see ‘um. Unless you’re in the Marianna Trench, deepest part of the ocean, where they seem to be 10 cm long. Blimey!

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