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Paramecium (Paramecium caudatum)

£11.95

Paramecium is one of the most famous microscopic organisms - but he hasn't let it go to his head. His best parts are on the inside!
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  • Paramecium (Paramecium caudatum) Paramecium (Paramecium caudatum) GMEU-PD-0545
    £11.95
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Sizes Giantmicrobes are based on actual microbes, cells, organisms and other critters, only 1,000,000 times actual size!
Gigantic (GG) 40-60cm
XL (XL) 25-38cm
Original (PD) 12-20cm
Minis (MM) 5-10cm each
Keychain (KC) 5-10cm with clip
Materials Plush from all new materials. Stuffed with polyester fiber fill. Surface washable: sponge with water & soap, air dry.
Packaging Each plush microbe includes a printed card with fun, educational and fascinating facts about the actual microbe or cell.
Safety Every product meets or exceeds U.S. and European standards for safety. For ages 3 and up.

All about Paramecium (Paramecium caudatum)

FACTS: The paramecium is one of the poster children of the microscopic world. Widely distributed in freshwater environments, this slipper-shaped single-celled organism is easily located and often studied in schools because of its representative microscopic structures.

For example, it's rhythmically waving hairy coat of cilia, which propels the cell forward and backward in a corkscrew-fashion, can be seen even through a small microscope. The cell is also coated with spiky trichocysts, projectiles which provide a layer of porcupine-like protection.

Its contractile vacuoles – star-shaped bubbles which pump out the excess water constantly being absorbed by osmosis – work tirelessly to prevent the paramecium from exploding.

The creature's gaping mouth (or buccal cavity) is a fearsome prospect to the bacteria and other microorganisms that comprise the paramecium's prey; and its cytopharynx can be seen snaking like a throat down the length of its body, depositing nutrients into the food vacuoles which serve as its stomachs.

But the paramecium is not purely an epicurean. Its brain is readily apparent in the macronucleus that contains the DNA which governs the cell. And the micronucleus, activated during reproduction, shamelessly floats nearby within the gooey cytoplasm – assuring that paramecia will continue to delight and intrigue intrepid surveyors of the microscopic kingdom.

 
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