Protist both microbial eukaryotes and macroscopic organisms that do not fit into the other traditional kingdoms. In cladistic systems (classifications based on common ancestry), there are no equivalents to the taxa Protista or Protoctista, both terms referring to a paraphyletic group that spans the entire eukaryotic tree of life. In cladistic classification, the contents of Protista are distributed among various "supergroups" (SAR, such as protozoa and some algae, Archaeplastida, such as land plants and some algae, Excavata, which are a group of unicellular organisms, and Opisthokonta, such as animals and fungi, etc.). "Protista", <nowiki>"Protoctista"</nowiki> and "Protozoa" are considered obsolete. However, the
Green algae were acquired from ingested green algae, and in the latter retain a nucleomorph (vestigial nucleus). Green algae are also found symbiotically in the ciliate "Paramecium", and in "Hydra viridissima" and in flatworms. Some species of green algae, particularly of genera "Trebouxia" of the class "Trebouxiophyceae" and "Trentepohlia" (class Ulvophyceae), can be found in symbiotic associations with fungi to form lichens. In general the fungal species that partner in lichens cannot live on their own, while the algal species is often found living in nature without the fungus. "Trentepohlia" is a filamentous green alga that can live independently on humid soil,