Bacteria, yeast, molds, and fungi provide the main source of slime mold nutrition, although the Plasmodiophorina feed parasitically on the roots of cabbage and other mustard-family plants. Slime mold has been studied as having the ability to solve a maze to reach food. Slime nets are most distantly related to the other slime molds, with some scientists considering them their own group. The life cycle of the Myxomycetes is, allowing for minor variations, representative of … Organisms in both groups are eukaryotic (meaning that their cells have nuclei) and are fungus-like in appearance during part of their life cycle. Slime molds are found worldwide and typically thrive in dark, cool, moist conditions such as prevail on forest floors. For this reason, they were traditionally included in "Slime molds are redefining what you need to have to qualify as intelligent," Reid says. Slime molds have almost no fossil record, which is not surprising. Not only do slime molds produce few resistant structures (except for spores, which are often overlooked or unidentifiable), but they live in moist terrestrial habitats, such as on decaying wood or fresh cow dung, where their potential for preservation is low. They are common in forests and wooded areas, and easy to spot once you know what you are looking for. Another group of slime molds, the Acrasiomycota, are known for releasing pheromones to aggregate amoebal cells in preparation for colonial movement. Plasmodial slime molds, such as Physarum polycephalum, are slime molds that form giant, multinucleated cell colonies. This leads programmers to try and learn from nature how to create new and more efficient algorithms. Making maps and mazes for them to solve and explore is easy to do. Their cell walls merge and their contents join into a singular mass of cytoplasm. They need food and water to live, and like cool, dark places. It does this using the least amount of material possible and using the quickest route. Like many things, we can take a lesson from nature and marvel at the unique properties of this special organism. Their cell walls merge and their contents join into a singular mass of cytoplasm. Keeping slime moulds as 'pets' The slime mould Physarum polycephalum is very easy to keep, it's harmless and undemanding, it can live on a sheet of kitchen towel in an old margarine tub and needs just oats for food. Slime mold is made up of organisms that resemble amoebas (single-celled organisms with no definite shape) and can easily be described as “blobs.” They move around looking for food and avoiding predators. Slime molds are organisms in two taxonomic groups, the cellular slime molds (Phylum Acrasiomycota) and the plasmodial slime molds (Phylum Myxomycota).