Protozoa are a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotic microbes, classified together with algae and slime molds as protists, and are further categorized by locomotor structure into ciliated, flagellated, amoeboid, and apicomplexan forms, several of which are significant human pathogens. Microbial life is organized within an evolutionary timeline and phylogenetic (Tree of Life) framework in which bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes represent three distinct domains that diverged from a common ancestor, with photosynthetic and eventually oxygenic bacteria preceding the emergence of aerobic bacteria and, later, unicellular and multicellular eukaryotes.
Protozoa are a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotic microbes, classified together with algae and slime molds as protists, and are further categorized by locomotor structure into ciliated, flagella…