Eukaryotic flagella like those of Volvox do not work on a wheel and axle principle, they flail around like whips. The International Society of Protistologists recommends that they should instead be called cilia, since they are homologous with cilia rather than with bacterial flagella. Etymologically it would make more sense the other way round, since flagella should flail, not rotate, and I think the eukaryotic examples were described first anyway.
Good information, thanks.
I was thinking of cilia as what I see on Paramecium and Stentor where they are shorter and have a synchronized beat, where as, on Volvox they don't seem to be synchronized.
Anyway, it is one of the nice things about EvC, learning new stuff.
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