An ancient or primitive type of cell, particularly used to describe ameboid cells in primitive sponges.
From Greek 'archaios' meaning 'ancient' combined with 'cyte' from 'kytos' meaning 'cell'. The term describes cells that appear primitive in form or function.
Archaeocytes in sponges are like the cellular version of living fossils—they're ameba-like cells that wander around inside sponges doing various jobs, and they've barely changed for hundreds of millions of years.
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