, often referred to as the “many-headed slime,” is a slime mold that inhabits shady, cool, moist areas, such as decaying leaves and logs. It is typically yellow in color, and eats fungal spores, bacteria, and other microbes. It shuns light but light also triggers spore production. P. polycephalum
is one of the easiest eukaryotic microorganisms to grow in culture (e.g. Davidson), and has often been used as a model organism. Most exciting are recent studies that investigate this organism's ability to solve mazes (Nakagaki et al. 2000), anticipate events (Saigusa et al. 2008; Barone 2008), balance its diet (Bonner 2010) and to simulate efficient road networks (Adamasky and Jones 2010). In these cases, multiple cells act together in an intelligent way reminiscent of the behavior of individual organisms or superorganisms like honeybee or ant colonies.