Animalcule
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Animalcule ("little animal", from Latin animal + the diminutive suffix -culum) is an older term for a microscopic animal or protozoan. Some better-known animalcules include:
- Actinophryies, and other heliozoa, called sun animalcules
- Amoeba, called Proteus animalcule
- Noctiluca scintillans, commonly called the 'Sea Sparkles'
- Paramecium, called slipper animalcules
- Rotifers, called wheel animalcules
- Stentor, called trumpet animalcules
- Vorticella, and other peritrichs, called bell animalcules
The term was also used by Anton van Leeuwenhoek, the 17th-century preformationist and discoverer of microorganisms, to describe spermatozoa.
The word appears in the Major-General's Song, in which Major-General Stanley sings, "I know the scientific names of beings animalculous..."
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