Last week, in early December, 2014, I learned about the Chromalveolata.
How is it that there is an entire kingdom of eucaryotic life that I knew nothing about?
Sure I knew about kelp, but when had it been elevated to its own kingdom joining the ranks of the plants, animals, fungi, and protozoa.
But then it got some much worse.
When I looked at the current classification scheme,
I discovered that the "traditional kingdoms" (per Carl Woese) are in complete flux,
as to whether the notion of kingdom is valid,
as to what should be in each group,
as to how many groups there are, and
as to what they should be called.
This is a complete mess for everyone:
the scientists,
the interested observers, and
even school kids trying to learn a little biology.
One thing became clear: I needed a separate web page for kelp :D
Sargassum seaweed
Neptune's necklace
Kelp
Monterey Aquarium is one of the great aquariua of the world. Its quintessential emblem is kelp.
Last modified: January 8, 2015
Created: December 6, 2014
Contact: siegelr@stanford.edu
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