Slime molds survive best on a diet comprising two thirds protein and one third carbohydrates. Audrey Dussutour of the University of Paul Sabatier in France placed slime molds in the center of a clock face of 11 different pieces of food, each with a unique ratio of proteins and carbohydrates.
When presented with this circular menu, slime molds consistently glommed onto the piece of food with optimal balance of nutrients. Compared with most organisms, slime molds have been on the planet for a very long time—they first evolved at least million years ago and perhaps as long as one billion years ago.
At the time, no organisms had yet evolved brains or even simple nervous systems. Yet slime molds do not blindly ooze from one place to another—they carefully explore their environments, seeking the most efficient routes between resources.
They do not accept whatever circumstances they find themselves in, but rather choose conditions most amenable to their survival. They remember, anticipate and decide.
By doing so much with so little, slime molds represent a successful and admirable alternative to convoluted brain-based intelligence. You might say that they break the mold. Ferris Jabr is a contributing writer for Scientific American. Already a subscriber? Sign in.
Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Go Paperless with Digital. Slideshow 10 images. Time-lapse video reveals that a dodder seedling twirls through the air, sniffing volatile chemicals released by neighboring plants in search of a suitable host Silvae, Wikimedia Commons. The trap shuts when an insect touches two or more of these hairs - or the same hair more than once — within a second window Tristan Gillingwater, Wikimedia Commons.
Researchers think that the behavior helps keep the flowers warm, which boosts chances of pollination by heat-seeking insects Small leaflets attached to the base of larger leaves constantly swivel to monitor changing levels of sunlight, adjusting the position of the primary leaves as needed Wikimedia Commons. Same thing if you blow on the plant or shake it. Zell, Wikimedia Commons. Most people cannot feel the weight of a string weighing less than 0.
They know that the time for flowering has arrived because they can sense that the days are getting longer and the nights are getting shorter Yuval Sapir.
Slime Mold My classification of slime mold stops at the Kingdom Protista because the term slime mold is a relatively broad term for any number of organisms; there are upwards of different species of known slime molds. These slime molds fall into two major different phyla; cellular slime molds and plasmodial slime molds.
So needless to say, it would be a little bit ridiculous to sit and list all of the different phyla, classes, orders, families, genera, and species. But I can take you through an example of a common species of slime mold, Physarum polycephalum. Domain: Eukarya Slime molds are under the Domain Eukarya because they have membrane-bound organelles, true nuclei, and a plasma membrane.
Google Scholar. Adl, S. The new higher level classification of eukaryotes with emphasis on the taxonomy of protists. Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 52 5 , — Alexopoulos, C. Introductory mycology 4th ed. New York: Wiley. Baldauf, S. Origin and evolution of the slime molds Mycetozoa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 94 22 , — A kingdom-level phylogeny of eukaryotes based on combined protein data.
Science, , — Brown, M. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 26 12 , — Farr, M. How to know the true slime molds. New York: McGraw-Hill. Herron, M. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 88 4 , — Jacobson, R. Slime molds: No brains, no feet, no problem.
PBS Newshour. Keller, H. Myxomycetes of Ohio: Their systematics, biology, and use in teaching Vol. Columbus: Ohio Biological Survey.
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