Slime moulds, or slime molds, are forms of life which live on the rainforest floor, and many other parts of the world. They slither over ground and fallen tree trunks in search of food. They scatter spores, like plants, which grow into new slime moulds.
They are a way of life, or life-form, which has evolved a number of times. Because they are not a monophyletic group, they are put into several different phyla. They have some features of fungi and some features of protozoa. This was discussed by Anton de Bary in 1858.
They spend part of their lives as isolated cells, but come together when a chemical signal is released. Then together, they form a multicellular organism which reproduces and makes spores. So they are both single-celled and multicellular. That is not all: the multicellular form loses its cell walls, and becomes a syncytium. This is an organism with many nuclei, but few or no cell walls.
The single cells are amoeboid (amoeba-like) and haploid (one set of chromosomes, like our gametes). The multi-nuclear stage is called a "plasmodium". It is diploid, formed from fusions between pairs of amoeboid cells. It gains nutrition by phagocytosing bacteria and food particles.
As the food supply fades, the plasmodium makes haploid cells by meiosis, and they form the basis of spores. The spores are kept and then distributed from a structure like a sporangium. This life-cycle is typical of the main group called Mycetozoa.
Modern molecular biology has shown by sequence analysis that slime moulds are not a monophyletic group. They were once regarded as fungi, but now they are split into three different groups, and none of them are fungi. They are a form taxon, put together because they share some characteristics. Relationships between the groups are not yet understood.
Bikonts are eukaryote cells with two flagellae. There are three groups, which have evolved slime mould form independently.
"Fonticula" is a cellular slime mould which forms a fruiting body in a volcano shape. "Fonticula" is not closely related to either the Dictyosteliida or the Acrasidae. A 2009 paper finds it to be related to "Nuclearia", which in turn is related to fungi.
Mouse deer
The chevrotain, also known as mouse deer, is a small even-toed ungulate that make up the family Tragulidae
Mouse deer live in Asia. They are about the size of a hare, with short, thin legs. They stamp their small feet to signal to each other. Mouse deer are extremely nervous. When they are surprised, they freeze immediately, and then run away in a zig-zag through the forest.
Crab spider
Crab spiders are the "Thomisidae" family of spiders. The group has 170 genera with over 2000 species.
They have two front pairs of legs angled outward and bodies that are flattened and often angular. Also, like crabs, Thomisidae spiders can move sideways or backwards.
Crab spiders are hunters and ambushers. Some species sit on or among flowers, bark, fruit or leaves where they grab visiting insects. Crab spiders use their powerful front legs to grab and hold onto prey while paralyzing it with a venomous bite.
They are camouflaged: several different types are known. Even at a close range, it is difficult to see the spider. Some species are disguised as birds' droppings resting on a leaf. Crab spiders live in rainforests all over the world. They get their name from the way they scuttle around like small crabs.
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian politician who was the 27th Prime Minister of Australia. She became the first female Prime Minister of Australia. She was also Australia's first unmarried prime minister. Gillard was the first prime minister not born in Australia since Billy Hughes, who served from 1915 to 1923.
Gillard became the leader of the Australian Labor Party on 24 June 2010 when Kevin Rudd resigned. She had been Deputy Prime Minister under Kevin Rudd. On 11 December 2007, Rudd went to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali. Gillard became the first woman in Australia's history to take on the prime-ministerial role as the acting prime minister.
Gillard was elected to the House of Representatives in 1988. She represented the Division of Lalor, in western suburbs of Melbourne.
Gillard was born in 1961 in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. She had bronchopneumonia as a child, and her parents thought it would be better in a warmer country. The family came to Australia in 1966, settling in Adelaide. She became an Australian citizen in 1974.,
Gillard's father was a psychiatric nurse, and her mother worked in a Salvation Army nursing home. She and her sister went to Mitcham Demonstration School, and Julia went on to attend Unley High School. She studied at the University of Adelaide but cut short her courses in 1982 and moved to Melbourne to work with the Australian Union of Students. She graduated from the University of Melbourne with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees in 1986.
In 1987, Gillard joined the law firm Slater & Gordon at Werribee, Melbourne, working in industrial law. In 1990 at the age of 29, she became one of their first female partners.
At the University of Adelaide, she joined the Labor Club and became involved in a campaign to fight state education budget cuts.
Moving to Melbourne in 1983, Gillard became the second woman to lead the Australian Union of Students. Gillard was also the secretary of the Socialist Forum. The Socialist Forum wanted to end the ANZUS treaty, making Leningrad a sister city of Melbourne, and increase taxes on rich people.
From 1996 to 1998, Gillard was Chief of Staff to the Victorian opposition leaderJohn Brumby She was responsible for writing new rules for the Labor Party in Victoria to increase the number of women elected to parliament. She also played a role in starting EMILY's List, the pro-choice fund-raising and support network for Labor women.
Gillard was elected as Member for Lalor in the House of Representatives at the 1998 election, replacing Barry Jones, who had retired. She made her first speech to the house on 11 November 1998.
After the 2001 election, Gillard was elected to the shadow cabinet, to oversee population and immigration. In February 2003, she was given reconciliation and Indigenous affairs.
After the Tampa and Children Overboard affairs, which were partly credited with Labor's 2001 election loss, Gillard worked on a new immigration policy for the Labor Party.
Gillard was promoted to the position of Shadow Health Minister in July 2003. Shortly after this, Tony Abbott became Health Minister. The contest between Abbott and Gillard often attracted attention from the media. She also was in charge of opposition business in the House of Representatives.
After the Labor loss at the October 2004 election, Gillard was seen as a possible future leader. However she stayed out of leadership changes in the Labor Party.
On 1 December 2006, with Kevin Rudd and Gillard launched a challenge for leadership of the ALP. Once Rudd was elected as leader on 4 December 2006, the deputy leader, Jenny Macklin. Gillard was elected unopposed as deputy leader. After the leader ship change, Gillard became the shadow ministe for Employment, Workplace Relations and Social Inclusion.
The Labor Party won the 2007 federal election. On 3 December 2007, Gillard was sworn in as the first female Deputy Prime Minister of Australia.
She was also the Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and Minister for Social Inclusion. As Minister for Education, Gillard went to Washington, DC, where she signed a deal with the US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, to enourage improved policy collaboration in education reform between both countries.