Malawimonas is a Loukozoa genus, possible sister of the Podiata. History of the discovery of Malawimonads In 1993, Charles J O’ Kelly studied the jakobid groups flagellates and implications for the early diversification of eukaryotes and recognized that Jakoba, Reclimonas, and Histonia or often refer as “core jakobids” were morphologically somewhat similar. Interestingly, they included an unnamed and undescribed free-swimming, flagellate, and also groove- bearing cell. During the early study, these cells were thought to be a member from Jakoba due to the external morphology features that resembles Jakoba libera in terms of lack of cell covering, sessile trophic stages, swimming in a similar manner and sharing the tendency for the anterior flagellum to form a “crook. However, later discovery found that this species seems to not fit and can not be assigned to the genus Jakoba, nor to any other genus of Jakobids, because of their discoidal mitochondrial cristae, which is different from Jakoba that have irregularly flattened, and the other Jakobids member have tubular mitochondrial cristae. This undescribed organism was later described formally as Malawimonas jakobiformis and placed in its own new family Malawimonadidae, a bacterivorous heterotrophic isolated from the Malawi shore of Lake Nyasa (eastern Africa). Only more than a decade later, a related organism has been studied under several studies that revolved around the phylogenetic positions of the Jakobids and Cercozoans group under the names Malawimonas californiana, but there are no formal descriptions included. Characterization Malawimonas share some common features with the jakobids and other Excavata group members by having a conspicuous feeding grove on the ventral side and two flagellates. The overall cytoskeleton of Malawimonas resembles Carpediemonas, typical Excavata belonging to the anaerobic Metamonada clade and closely related to Diplomonads and Retormonads. Malawimonas jakobiformis characterized by a uninucleate, biflagellate, heterotrophic, “naked” cell, where neither scales nor lorica was present. Observation of the ultrastructure revealed a substantial glycocalyx as a surface coat. The cells of Malawimonas are usually slender, and the shape is plastic and often deformed by influences such as coverslip pressure or food they digest. The two flagella are approximately 1- 1.5 times as long as the cell body and are more or less equal length. The anterior flagellum has a “crook” shape where the posterior flagellum is appresed but not attached to the ventral cell surface. Cells swim in straight lines a and turn longitudinal axes as they move. The posterior flagellar vane