Protists belong to what kingdom?

Answer 1

Originally, the "protists" were either classified as "animal-like"/"protozoon" or "plant-like"/"algae", back when the only two kingdoms were Linnaeus' Regnum Animalia and Regnum Vegetablia. A lot of protists, though, did not really fit into either of these categories, including (for instance) the green euglena Euglena viridis. Like an animal, the green euglena is able to move freely (with its flagellum), eat other creatures, and detect light. Like a plant, though, the euglena typically photosynthesises (reverting to heterotrophy when dark), and has a cell wall (albeit a flexible one). Ernst Haeckel thus created a new kingdom, Protista, to include such "misfits". Over time, the two-kingdom system fell into disfavour and was replaced by the five kingdoms Monera, Protista, Plantae, Fungi, Animalia.

Recently, though, improved genetic techniques revised taxonomy again. The current trend is to base taxonomic groups on evolutionary relationships. As Protista was created as a wastebasket taxon, and its members were so incredibly diverse, it has since been split into several kingdoms, including Amoebozoa (amoebae and most slime moulds), Choanozoa (single-celled immediate relatives of the animals), Chromalvelota (ciliates, apicomplexans, brown algae, diatoms, etc.), Excavata (euglenae, deer fever, etc.), Rhizaria (radiolarans, forimaferians, etc.), and various others. We're still very far from a true consensus, so many just still use "Protista".

Answer 2

Protists belong in the Protist Kingdom. Study the tree of life if you wan't to learn more about kingdoms.

Answer 3

Protist Kingdom