Life in a glass house! - The diatom - Isthmia nervosa

Diatoms are single-celled algae. Two main types of diatoms are distinguished on the basis of their symmetry, the centric diatoms, and the pinnate diatoms. Isthmia nervosa is an unusual centric diatom, with a secondary bilateral symmetry. This image is a colorized image from a scanning electron micrograph of Isthmia, taken at Friday Harbor Labs.

For a program that outlines aspects of micro- and macro- algae, see our video, Branches on the Tree of Life: Algae. For a treatment of the evolution of eukaryotes that outlines new perspectives on the relation of the different algae groups see our program: The Domains of Life.