Species
Volvox
Algae and Protists
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Volvox is a polyphyletic genus of chlorophyte green algae in the family Volvocaceae. Its species form spherical colonies of up to 50,000 cells, for which reason they are sometimes called globe algae, and it was first reported by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1700. It occurs in a variety of freshwater habitats worldwide, and its colonies are differentiated into somatic and reproductive cells capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction; because of this, Volvox and its close relatives are used as model organisms to study cellular movement, sexual reproduction and the evolution of multicellularity.
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