Chapter 21, Problem 1MC

Which of the following statements about protists is False?

a. Some protists are photosynthetic.

b. All protists are eukaryotes.

c. Although protists are diverse, they form a single clade.

d. Protists include both unicellular and multicellular species.

Summary Introduction

Introduction:

Bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes are the three domains of life. The eukaryotes consist of plant, animals, and fungi. However, there are certain eukaryotes that do not fall in these three groups. They are collectively known as protists.

Answer to Problem 1MC

Correct answer:

The false statement from the given statements is that although the protists are diverse, they form a single clade.

Explanation of Solution

Explanation for the correct answer:

Option (c) is given that, although protists are diverse, they form a single clade is false about protists. A clade can be defined as a group consists of all the decedents of a particular common ancestor. The protists do not have a common ancestor. All the protists are not even related. Protist is a term coined by systematics to help them catalog the organisms that do not fall in specific eukaryotes types. Thus, the protists do not form a single clade. Hence, option (c) is a correct answer.

Explanation for the incorrect answers:

Option (a) is given that some protists are photosynthetic is false about protists. However, protists gain nutrition by different processes like nutrient absorption from the surroundings, ingestion of food, and capturing solar energy through the process of photosynthesis. The example of photosynthetic protist is Caulerpa. So, it is an incorrect option.

Option (b) is given that all protists are eukaryotes, is false about protists. Of the life’s three domains, only bacteria and archaea are prokaryotes. All protists are eukaryotes; however, they do not fall in plant, animal, or fungi categories. So, it is an incorrect option.

Option (d) is given that protists include both unicellular and multicellular species is false about protists. Most of the protists are unicellular and so, they are usually invisible; however, there are some multicellular protists that are physiologically and structurally complex. So, it is an incorrect option.

Hence, options (a), (b), and (d) are incorrect.

Conclusion

Therefore, it can be concluded that although the protists are diverse, they do not form a single clade. This is because they do not have a single ancestor.