Introduction

Protozoology is the study of protozoa, the "animal-like" protists. This term has become dated as understanding of the evolutionary relationships of the eukaryotes has improved. For example, the Society of Protozoologists, founded in 1947, was renamed International Society of Protistologists in 2005. However, the term persists in some cases (e.g., the Polish journal Acta Protozoologica).

Protozoology is a branch of biology that deals with protozoa. Protozoa are eukaryotic organisms belonging to a group characterized for being single-celled, most of them motile and heterotrophic. In a five-kingdom scheme of classifying organisms, they belong to a taxonomic group within Kingdom Protista, and typically divided on the basis of their means of locomotion: Flagellates (e.g. Giardia lambdia), Amoeboids (e.g. Entamoeba histolytica), Sporozoans (e.g. Plasmodium knowlesi), and Ciliates (e.g. Balantidium coli). Protozoology studies these organisms with regard to their taxonomy, morphological features, medical importance, etc.

Individuals that specialize in this particular field of biology are called protozoologists. One such notable protozoologist is Stanislaus von Prowazek. He is a Austrian protozoologist and parasitologist known for his work and provisional leadership of the department of protozoan studies (Protozoenkunde) at the Kaiserliches Gesundheitsamt in Berlin. He was the first to show Trypanosoma lewisi going through a special stage in the body of its rat louse host.  It should be noted however that the use of the term protozoology is now not as popular as before and protistology is preferred to pertain to the scientific study of such organisms, which are also now referred to as protists together with algae and other plant-like eukaryotes.

Historically protozoa were divided into four major groups: the ameba, the flagellates, the ciliates, and the sporozoa. The distinguishing features between the groups was based on motility (i.e., ameboid, flagella, cilia). The sporozoa were a heterogeneous group that produced spores during one stage of their life cycles and exhibited a 'gliding' motility. Many protozoa exhibit sexual reproduction in addition to the asexual forms of reproduction. This sexual reproduction can involve the production and fusion of gametes in processes similar to higher organisms.

In summary, protozoa are unicellular eukaryotic microorganisms. However, the amount of diversity in terms of morphology, size and life styles exhibit by protozoa makes it difficult to develop a more precise definition. Their long evolutionary history (see phylogenetic tree) accounts for much of this diversity. However, protozoa do exhibit features common to all eukaryotes.

Reproduction

Protozoa, like all other organisms, reproduce. The most common form of reproduction in protozoa is asexual binary fission. In other words, a single organism will divide into two equal organisms. A slight modification of this binary fission, called budding, is when one of the newly formed cells is smaller than the other. Typically the larger cell is called the mother and the smaller is the daughter. Some protozoa will form an intracellular bud and essentially give birth. Another variation of binary fission is a multiple fission or segmentation. In this situation, several rounds of nuclear replication occur without cytokinesis. This multinucleated cell will then form multiple progeny simultaneously.

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