The malawimonads were first described asorderMalawimonadida in 2003 byThomas Cavalier-Smith. In 2013 they were also described as a class (Malawimonadea) and were placed as the only member of the subphylumNeolouka as part of the phylum "Loukozoa", apolyphyletic group unitingMetamonada,Jakobea,Tsukubea and the malawimonads.[7] Later, the Loukozoa broke apart and Neolouka was raised to the rank of phylum. Finally, this phylum containing only malawimonads was renamed in 2021 toMalawimonada by the same author,[1] and was placed in a separatekingdom by the same name.[8]
Initially, Malawimonadida was amonotypic order, containing only the familyMalawimonadidae and the genusMalawimonas. In 2018, the genusGefionella was first described and added to this family. In 2020, a new genusImasa and a new familyImasidae were added to the group. Presently, Malawimonadida contains 2 families, 3 genera and 3 accepted species.[3]
^abcdHeiss AA, Warring SD, Lukacs K, Favate J, Yang A, Gyaltshen Y, Filardi C, Simpson AGB, Kim E (December 2020). "Description of Imasa heleensis, gen. nov., sp. nov. (Imasidae, fam. nov.), a Deep-Branching Marine Malawimonad and Possible Key Taxon in Understanding Early Eukaryotic Evolution".Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology.68: e12837.doi:10.1111/jeu.12837.
^Brown MW, et al. (2018), "Phylogenomics Places Orphan Protistan Lineages in a Novel Eukaryotic Super-Group",Genome Biology and Evolution,10 (2):427–433,doi:10.1093/gbe/evy014,PMC5793813
^Cavalier-Smith, Thomas (2013-05-01). "Early evolution of eukaryote feeding modes, cell structural diversity, and classification of the protozoan phyla Loukozoa, Sulcozoa, and Choanozoa".European Journal of Protistology.49 (2):115–178.doi:10.1016/j.ejop.2012.06.001.PMID23085100.
