Question

A scientist was observing a specimen under a microscope. He obtained the specimen from pond water. He observed that the specimen was egg-shaped, had hairy structures all over its body, and was covered by a membrane. He also noticed two nuclei in the specimen’s body. To which phylum did the organism belong?

A) sarcodina
B) ciliophora
C) apicomplexa
D) euglenoid

Answer 1

It would have to be ciliophora because of the hair-like structures.

Answer 2

The correct answer is option B, that is, Ciliophora.

Ciliophora is the term used for the phylum usually known as the ciliates. Ciliates are the most complex of cells, exhibiting an elaborate cytoskeleton, cilia, two distinct types of nuclei. Ciliates are single-celled species, which at a certain phase of their life cycle, possesses cilia, that is, short hair-like projections used for food gathering and locomotion.