Metamonad | |
---|---|
Giardia lamblia, a parasitic diplomonad | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
(unranked): | Excavata |
Phylum: | Metamonada Grassé 1952 emend. Cavalier-Smith 2003 |
Subdivisions[1][2][3] | |
Synonyms | |
The metamonads are a large group of flagellate amitochondriate microscopic eukaryotes. Their composition is not entirely settled, but they include the retortamonads, diplomonads, and possibly the parabasalids and oxymonads as well. These four groups are all anaerobic (many being aerotolerant anaerobes), occurring mostly as symbiotes or parasites of animals, as is the case with Giardia lamblia which causes diarrhea in mammals.[4]