Foraminifera test

Foraminiferal tests are the tests (or shells) of Foraminifera.

Foraminiferan tests (ventral view)

Foraminifera (forams for short) are single-celled predatory protists, mostly marine, and usually protected with shells. These shells, often called tests, can be single-chambered or have multiple interconnected chambers; the cellular machinery is contained within the shell. So important is the test to the biology of foraminifera that it provides the scientific name of the group—foraminifera, Latin for "hole bearers", referring to the pores connecting chambers of the shell in the multi-chambered species.

Foraminiferal tests are usually made of calcite, a form of calcium carbonate (CaCO
3), but are sometimes made of aragonite, agglutinated sediment particles, chitin, or (rarely) of silica.[1] Other foraminifera lack tests altogether.[2]

Over 50,000 species are recognized, both living (6,700 - 10,000)[3][4] and fossil (40,000).[5][6] They are usually less than 1 mm in size, but some are much larger, the largest species reaching up to 20 cm.[7] Most forams are benthic, but about 40 extant species are planktic.[8] The hard nature of most foraminiferal tests leads to an excellent fossil record, and they are widely researched to infer information about past climate and environments.[9]

External videos
video icon foraminiferans
video icon Foraminiferal networks and growth
  1. ^ Kennett, J.P.; Srinivasan, M.S. (1983). Neogene planktonic foraminifera: a phylogenetic atlas. Hutchinson Ross. ISBN 978-0-87933-070-5.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :18 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Pawlowski, J.; Lejzerowicz, F.; Esling, P. (1 October 2014). "Next-Generation Environmental Diversity Surveys of Foraminifera: Preparing the Future". The Biological Bulletin. 227 (2): 93–106. doi:10.1086/BBLv227n2p93. ISSN 0006-3185. PMID 25411369. S2CID 24388876.
  4. ^ Ald, S.M. et al. (2007) Diversity, Nomenclature, and Taxonomy of Protists, Syst. Biol. 56(4), 684–689, DOI: 10.1080/10635150701494127.
  5. ^ Pawlowski, J., Lejzerowicz, F., & Esling, P. (2014). Next-generation environmental diversity surveys of foraminifera: preparing the future. The Biological Bulletin, 227(2), 93–106.
  6. ^ "World Foraminifera Database".
  7. ^ Marshall M (3 February 2010). "Zoologger: 'Living beach ball' is giant single cell". New Scientist.
  8. ^ Hemleben, C.; Anderson, O.R.; Spindler, M. (1989). Modern Planktonic Foraminifera. Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-540-96815-3.
  9. ^ Wassilieff, Maggy (2006) "Plankton – Animal plankton", Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Accessed: 2 November 2019.