A single-celled ciliated organism that has cilia of different lengths or types on its body.
From Greek 'hetero-' (different) and 'trich-' (hair), referring to cilia which look like hair. This biological term became standard in the 1800s when microscopes allowed scientists to observe these tiny creatures.
Heterotrichs are like having multiple hairstyles on one head—some cilia are arranged in bands for swimming, while others are specialized for feeding, making them surprisingly sophisticated microscopic swimmers.
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