Bio*Pedia is a repository of descriptions of organisms. Information entered here will be harvested by the Encyclopedia of Life. The material will be reviewed and if inappropriate or inaccurate, may not be included in EOL.
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Bio*Pedia is a repository of descriptions of organisms and a partner of the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL). Descriptions added to Bio*Pedia will be harvested at regular intervals, and will appear on EOL species pages.1
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Type the scientific name of the species that you wish to add a description to (without author and year) into the search box, select and jump to the species name, and click on the "Add description" link in the upper left corner of the page. Type your description into the lower (yellow) box, choose the appropriate license, click "Save description", and your description will immediately appear in Bio*Pedia, which means that it is on the way to EOL!1
1Please note that your description will not appear immediately on EOL Species Pages. If submitted descriptions are deemed inappropriate or inaccurate, they may not be included in EOL.
Description of Polycystina:
Circumscription: A group of marine radiolaria (protists with axopodia, skeletons, and no flagella in trophic state), usually with a skeleton of hydrated amorphous silica, developing from a four pronged spicule which may be dissolved by at least some species. Cytoplasm separated into an inner area by a capsule having differentiated regions (the fusules) through which the axopodia pass. Frequently with symbiotic dinoflagellates. Distributive stages have two flagella and some have strontium sulphate crystals, suggesting relationship with Acantharea. Ultrastructural identity: Mitochondria with tubular cristae. Microtubules of axopodia form branching arrays or wide hexagons. Capsule a discrete organic structure with fusules as a pore with electron-dense material enveloping the microtubules of the axoneme. Microtubule organizing centre amorphous/fibrous/granular. Mitosis with spindle inside nucleus but microtubule nucleating material external to nuclear envelope. Synapomorphy: Tubulocristate eukaryotes, with capsule with fusules separating endoplasm and ectoplasm.
A search that checks against common names and lexical variants.
Example: A search for "Pomatomus saltator" will check presence in the tree of "Pomatomus sallatrix", "Pomatomus saltator", or "Pomatomus saltatrix".
A search that checks against common names and lexical variants and homotypic variants.
Example: A search for "Pomatomus saltator" will check presence in the tree of "Cheilodipterus saltatrix", "Gasterosteus saltatrix", "Pomatomix saltatrix", "Pomatomus sallatrix", "Pomatomus saltator", "Pomatomus saltatrix", or "Temnodon saltator".
