Systematic Position of the Slime Molds and Its Bearing on the Classification of the Fungi

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Abstract
The various taxonomic dispositions of the Myxomycetes are briefly reviewed, with special attention to their possible affinity with the Phycomycetes in general and the more primitive families of this group in particular. It is pointed out that the evidence for the supposed poly-phyletic origin of the fungi from various algal groups is not conclusive, and that an alternative monophyletic theory of their origin from colorless flagellates is reasonable. If this is admitted for the Phycomycetes, Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes, the Myxomycetes form a natural first class. The differences which have been adduced to indicate wide separation between the Myxomycetes and the Phycomycetes are examined, and it is maintained that these differences are neither so absolute nor so important as not to be adequately recognized by regarding the 2 groups as distinct classes of the same phylum.

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