protistn.adj.

1873 N. Amer. Rev. Oct. 258 A long time must have elapsed before protists, simple plants and nerveless animals were succeeded by animals sufficiently complex to manifest even the most rudimentary phases of psychical life.

1889 P. Geddes & J. A. Thomson Evol. Sex x. 129 [Volvox] is best regarded as a multicellular protist.

1906 M. Hartog in Cambr. Nat. Hist. I. i. 24 It is found that a Protist deprived of its nucleus can execute its wonted movements, but can neither digest nor grow.

1926 C. M. Wenyon Protozool. I. i. 4 A typical Protist consists of a small portion of cytoplasm and a nucleus.

1975 Nature 7 Aug. 467/2 These [phytoflagellates] were the ancestors of all plants, and..of non-photosynthetic protists and animals.

2003 F. M. Harold Way of Cell p. xi Microorganisms, the bacteria and protists, can make a biosphere all by themselves, and did so for billions of years when the earth was young.

1879 Bric-a-brac Nov. 160/1 In silent pools the tube I'll ply,..And proudly bring to thy bright eye The trophies of the protist world.

1889 P. Geddes & J. A. Thomson Evol. Sex xi. 152 Loose protist colonies like Volvox or Ampullina.

1926 Jrnl. Ecol. 14 96 There are also a host of protist forms, some of uncertain systematic position, which occur in small numbers in almost any plankton catch.

1989 L. Margulis in L. Margulis et al. Handbk. Protoctista p. ix A wood-ingesting termite may contain as many as thirty different protist species.

2003 Nature 13 Nov. 172/1 Giardia is a member of the diplomonads, often described as an ancient protist group whose primitive nature is suggested by the lack of typical eukaryotic organelles.