''Calkinsia'' is a

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

of excavates comprising the single species ''Calkinsia aurea''. It lives in low-oxygen seafloor environments. It is not classified in any of the three well-known groups of the Euglenozoa (

Kinetoplastida Kinetoplastida (or Kinetoplastea, as a class) is a group of flagellated protists belonging to the phylum Euglenozoa, and characterised by the presence of a distinctive organelle called the kinetoplast (hence the name), a granule containing a lar ...

, Euglenida or Diplonemida), but is placed in its own group, the Symbiontida (along with some DNA sequences which were found in marine environments but not identified with known organisms). Some authors have classified ''Calkinsia'' alongside ''

Postgaardi ''Postgaardi mariagerensis'' is a species of single-celled eukaryote in the Euglenozoa Euglenozoa are a large group of flagellate Discoba. They include a variety of common free-living species, as well as a few important parasites, some of which ...

'', but ''Postgaardi'' has not been studied well enough to test this hypothesis. The genus name of ''Calkinsia'' is in honour of Gary Nathan Calkins (1869 – 1943), who was an American

protozoologist Protistology is a scientific discipline devoted to the study of protists, a highly diverse group of eukaryotic organisms. All eukaryotes apart from animals, plants and fungi are considered protists. Its field of study therefore overlaps with the ...

and a professor at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He wrote several landmark textbooks on the biology of the protozoa.

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