Organisms on this planet are most often categorized as either plants, animals and fungi. Of course that’s a bit reductive and bacteria and other microorganisms exist, however, there is another type of organism on this planet and it has been stumping scientists with regards to its fossil history for years and now we finally know why.
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00:00organisms on this planet are most often categorized as either plants animals or
00:08fungi of course that's a bit reductive and bacteria and other microorganisms
00:13exist however there is another type of organism on this planet and it has been
00:17stumping scientists with regards to its fossil history for years these are
00:21euglenids or a group of single-celled eukaryotes that use both photosynthesis
00:26and the eating of other cells for sustenance they split from the more
00:29commonly understood eukaryote about a billion years ago but there has been
00:32little fossil evidence collected for them or has there researchers recently
00:37realized that this is euglenid fossil but it has been miscategorized since the
00:4160s with biologists believing these fossils to be worm eggs algal cysts or
00:45fern spores and they have been evading scientists because of a special skill
00:49they possess in times of stress euglenids are able to cocoon themselves in a
00:54protective cyst a process only recently observed in action with the researchers
00:58saying about it quote we were much surprised by the ultra structure of the
01:01cysts the structure of the wall does not resemble anything that is known adding
01:06the disability has allowed euglenids to weather every extinction event our
01:10planet has ever seen even the one that did in the dinosaurs