Video Transcript
Kingdom Protista is divided into
multiple phyla. Which of the following is not a
phylum of kingdom Protista? (A) Protozoa, (B) Euglenophyta, (C)
Chrysophyta, (D) Bryophyta, or (E) Pyrrophyta.
This question asks about the
classification of phyla within kingdom Protista. So let’s talk about the kingdoms of
life and which phyla belong to which kingdom.
A scientist named Whittaker
proposed a classification system that grouped all living things into five kingdoms:
Plantae, Animalia, Fungi, Monera, and Protista. The kingdom Protista is defined as
any eukaryotic organism that is not an animal, plant, or fungus. Remember, a eukaryotic organism is
one that is made up of a cell, or cells, that usually contain a membrane-bound
nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles.
Organisms within kingdom Protista,
which are sometimes called protists, can be classified into several different
phyla. Euglenophytes are mostly
single-celled, flagellated, eukaryotic organisms, such as diatoms. They are one of the phyla belonging
to the kingdom Protista. As we know that Euglenophyta is
classified within the kingdom Protista and we are looking for an answer choice that
is not a phylum in this kingdom, (B) Euglenophyta cannot be the correct answer to
this question.
Chrysophyta are single-celled,
eukaryotic organisms that sometimes form large colonies. They are more commonly known as
golden algae and are often found in freshwater. As Chrysophyta would be classified
in the kingdom Protista as well, answer option (C), Chrysophyta, cannot be the
correct answer either.
Pyrrophyta are usually flagellated
phytoplankton, such as dinoflagellates, found in marine and freshwater
environments. These organisms are also
single-celled eukaryotes and differ from organisms in phylum Euglenophyta due to the
composition of their cell walls. Answer option (E), Pyrrophyta,
would also be classified within Protista so can be eliminated from our choices.
Protozoa are a general grouping of
single-celled eukaryotes, which do not contain any of the features of the other
phyla. Protozoa would be classified in the
kingdom Protista too, so this option is also incorrect.
We have deduced that some of the
phyla that belong to kingdom Protista are Protozoa, Euglenophyta, Chrysophyta, and
Pyrrophyta. The only answer that would not be
considered part of the kingdom Protista is answer option (D), Bryophyta. This is a classification of land
plants that would fall within the kingdom Plantae. This means that the correct answer
to this question is (D), Bryophyta.
