Biodiversidad de protistas amébidos de vida libre en México Biodiversity of free living amoebid protists in Mexico

A taxonomical and ecological review of the available information about amoebae (gymnamoebae and testate) of Mexico was made considering 142 publications in the 1841-2012 period. The total number of amoebae species found was 315. The dominant groups were Amebozoa, Rhizaria and Excavata with a significant contribution of the testate amoebae group besides gymnamoebae and acanthamoebid organisms. Most studies were performed in the states of the central area of Mexico, especially in Mexico City and its environs, corresponding to the location of the main research groups. Nine states have no studies on free-living amobae, including some of the regions with the higher biodiversity in Mexico as Chiapas, Tabasco and Yucatan. The first record of amoebae in our country was in 1841. The largest number of records comes from the decade of 1960 of the last century and the number of records has maintained a trend of steady increase and the perspective is that there are still large numbers of undiscovered species, many of them essential to the functioning of many ecosystems. This is the first review focused exclusively on the status of free-living amoebae species in Mexico.