I NEED to study for an upcoming biodiversity test and yet here I am. By the way, I got an A+ for my previous biodiversity CA. Go me. =) If all estimates are true, I either got 19 or 18 out of 20 for that one =). One freaking careless mistake though (reading pH as temperature).

Now I know that Choanoflagellates, Plants and Animals are all Opisthokonts. Ciliates*thousands of cilia for locomotion or phagocytosis* and Apicomplexans*apical complex of microtubules for attaching the parasite to its host* are both Alveolates (because they both have a flattened vesicle with an unknown function just below their plasma membrane called an alveolus -d'oh) and that Plasmodial slime molds, cellular slime molds and amoebas are all Amoebozoa (all lacking tests, asymmetrical with changing shapes and lobe-like pseudopodia). Now onto the animals; Protostomes, Deuterostomes.. coelomate, acoelomate, pseudocoelomate.. asymmetrical, biradial symmetry, radial symmetry, bilateral symmetry... diploblastic, triploblastic.. etc etc

These terms on their own are confusing enough, much less having to apply them to SUPERphyla, phyla and SUBphyla, not to mention the classes and orders.

King Philip Came Over For Gene's Specialty

That's how I remember the taxonomic ranking.

Kingdom, Phyla, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.

Kudos to my junior college for teaching me that!

Are you confused yet? Me? Nope, I'd be so dead if I were, 'cause there's so much more coming up. EEPS.