Editing Volvox (section)

{{Short description|Genus of algae}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Mikrofoto.de-volvox-4.jpg
| image_caption = ''Volvox'' sp.
| taxon = Volvox
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
| type_species = Volvox globator
| type_species_authority = L.<ref name=AlgaeBase>{{AlgaeBase genus | id=43497 | title=''Volvox'' Linnaeus, 1758 | access-date=2025-04-12 }}</ref>
| synonyms_ref = <ref name=Smith1944/>
| synonyms = 
*''Besseyosphaera'' {{au|W.R.Shaw}}
*''Campbellosphaera'' {{au|W.R.Shaw}}
*''Copelandosphaera'' {{au|W.R.Shaw}}
*''Janetosphaera'' {{au|W.R.Shaw}}
*''Merrillosphaera'' {{au|W.R.Shaw}}
*''Sphaerosira'' {{au|Ehrenberg}}
| subdivision_ranks = Sections
| subdivision = See {{Section link||Taxonomy}}
}}

'''''Volvox''''' is a [[Polyphyly|polyphyletic]] [[genus]] of [[chlorophyte]] [[green algae]] in the family [[Volvocaceae]]. ''Volvox'' species form spherical [[colony (biology)|colonies]] of up to 50,000 cells, and for this reason they are sometimes called '''globe algae'''. First reported by [[Antonie van Leeuwenhoek]] in 1700, it is distinctive and easily identified in the [[microscope]]. It occurs in variety of [[freshwater]] habitats, and has a widespread, [[cosmopolitan distribution]].<ref name=Smith1944/>

''Volvox'' diverged from unicellular ancestors approximately {{Ma|200}}.<ref name="daily">{{cite web |author=University of Arizona |date=February 22, 2009 |title=Single-celled algae took the leap to multicellularity 200 million years ago |website=[[Science Daily]] |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090219140546.htm}}</ref> Colonies of ''Volvox'' are differentiated into [[somatic cell|somatic]] and reproductive cells, and are capable of both sexual and asexual [[reproduction]]. Additionally, its close relatives are diverse in body plan and reproductive strategy, ranging from unicellular organisms such as ''[[Chlamydomonas]]'' to simple colonial organisms such as ''[[Pandorina]]'' and ''[[Eudorina]]''. Because of this, ''Volvox'' and its relatives are used as [[model organism]]s in the classroom and laboratory to study biological processes such as cellular movement, [[sexual reproduction]], and evolution of [[multicellularity]].<ref name=Herron>{{Cite journal |last=Herron |first=Matthew D. |date=2016 |title=Origins of multicellular complexity: ''Volvox'' and the volvocine algae |journal=Molecular Ecology |volume=25 |issue=6 |pages=1213–1223 |doi=10.1111/mec.13551 |pmc=5765864 |pmid=26822195|bibcode=2016MolEc..25.1213H }}</ref>