In this paper, we follow the evolutionary origins of cells as unicellular organisms and their
evolution towards multicellularity, with a focus on plants and animals, both of which have two …

All animals evolved from a single lineage of unicellular precursors more than 600 million
years ago. Thus, the biological and genetic foundations for animal sensation, cognition and …

We argue that pain is not needed to protect the body from damage unless the organism is
able to make free choices in action selection. Then pain (including its affective and …

Diverse animal species exhibit highly stereotyped behavioral actions and locomotor
sequences as they explore their natural environments. In many such cases, the neural basis …

The movement trajectories of organisms serve as dynamic read-outs of their behaviour and
physiology. For microorganisms this can be difficult to resolve due to their small size and fast …

How the behavior of cells emerges from their constituent subcellular biochemical and
physical parts is an outstanding challenge at the intersection of biology and physics. A …

Living organisms routinely navigate their surroundings in search of better conditions, more
food, or to avoid predators. Typically, animals do so by integrating sensory cues from the …

Paramecium is a large unicellular organism that swims in fresh water using cilia. When
stimulated by various means (mechanically, chemically, optically, thermally), it often swims …

The growth of complexity is an unsolved and underappreciated problem. We consider
possible causes of this growth, hypotheses testing, molecular mechanisms, complexity …

This special issue of the Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology (JEM) summarizes
achievements obtained by generations of researchers with ciliates in widely different …