protists
Protists are a group of all the eukaryotes that are not fungi, animals, or plants. As a result, it is a very diverse group of organisms. The eukaryotes that make up this kingdom, Kingdom Protista , do not have much in common besides a relatively simple organization. Protists can look very different from each other. Some are tiny and unicellular, like an amoeba , and some are large and multicellular, like seaweed . However, multicellular protists do not have highly specialized tissues or organs. This simple cellular-level organization distinguishes protists from other eukaryotes, such as fungi, animals, and plants. There are thought to be between 60,000 and 200,000 protist species, and many have yet to be identified. Protists live in almost any environment that contains liquid water. Many protists, such as the algae , are photosynthetic and are vital primary producers in ecosystems. Other protists are responsible for a range of serious human diseases, such as malaria and sleeping sickness.