sarcodine

noun

sar·​co·​dine ˈsär-kə-ˌdīn 

-ˌdēn

plural sarcodines

: any of a group of protozoans (such as the amoebas, entamoebas, foraminifera, and radiolarians) that have pseudopodia used for locomotion and for obtaining food

Note: The sarcodines have been classified especially formerly in a polyphyletic taxon (class or subphylum Sarcodina of the phylum Sarcomastigophora) now not typically considered valid.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from the stem of New Latin Sarcodina (first spelled Sarkodina), taxonomic name, from German Sarkode "protoplasm" (borrowed from French sarcode, borrowed from Greek sarkṓdes "fleshy part, flesh-like substance," noun derivative from neuter of sarkṓdēs "fleshy, flesh-like," from sark-, sárx "flesh, piece of meat" + -ōdēs "resembling," originally "smelling of," adjective derivative from the stem of ózein "to smell, give off an odor") + New Latin -ina "ones relating to," noun derivative from neuter of Latin -īnus -ine entry 1 — more at sarc-, odor

Note: The taxon Sarcodina was introduced by the German zoologist Richard Hertwig (1850-1937) and the physician Edmund Lesser (1852-1918) in "Ueber Rhizopoden und denselben nahestehenden Organismen. Morphologische Studien," Archiv für mikroskopische Anatomie, 10. Band, Supplementheft (1874), p. 43: "Wir ziehen daher vor, den Ausdruck Rhizopoden auf die mit verästelten wurzelförmigen Pseudopodien versehenen Organismen unserer Gruppe zu beschränken und für die ganze Gruppe einen Namen zu wählen, welcher mehr das Allen Gemeinschaftliche betont. Da nun nach der gegebenen Schilderung das Vereinigende in der Lebenserscheinungen in der undifferenzirten Sarkode zu suchen ist, schlagen wir als zusammenfassenden Namen die Bezeichnung Sarkodeorganismen oder Sarkodina vor." ("Hence we prefer to limit the term rhizopods to the organisms of our group equipped with branching, root-shaped pseudopodia, and to choose for the whole group a name that emphasizes all the common features. Now since in light of the description given, the unifying biological phenomena are to be sought in the undifferentiated sarcode [= protoplasm], we suggest as an encompassing name the designation sarcode-organisms, or Sarcodina.") The term Sarkode (English sarcode) was introduced in French by the biologist Félix Dujardin (1801-60) in "Recherches sur les organismes inférieurs," Annales des sciences naturelles, second série, tome quatrième - zoologie (1835), p. 367.

First Known Use

1877, in the meaning defined above