The Foraminifera, are a class of amoeboid protists. They have thin pseudopodia that form an external net for catching food. They also usually have an external shell, or test, made of various materials and constructed in diverse forms.
Crinoids were marine animals with long, feathery arms that anchored themselves to the seafloor, while foraminifera were single-celled organisms that formed shells out of calcium carbonate. Both organisms were abundant during this period and played important ecological roles in marine ecosystems.
Foraminifera are found everywhere in marine environments. The forams found near oil deposits are different because they have parasites attached. Oil companies look for an environment that has more than 2% frequency of parasitized forams as a sign there may be an oil deposit. Their test, shell, also forms differently in environments with more oil which is another sign.
Calcareous ooze is an example of a type of biogenic sediment made up of the skeletal remains of marine organisms like foraminifera, coccolithophores, and pteropods. It is a common component of deep-sea sediments in regions where these organisms are abundant.
The two types of biogenous sediments are siliceous oozes, which are made up of silica-based remains of diatoms and radiolarians, and calcareous oozes, which consist of calcium carbonate shells of organisms like foraminifera and coccolithophores.
The deepest fossil ever found is a marine microorganism called a foraminifera, discovered in a deep-sea trench in the Pacific Ocean. This finding is significant in paleontology because it provides insights into the evolution and adaptation of life in extreme environments, as well as the history of Earth's oceans.
M. K. BouDagher-Fadel has written: 'The early evolutionary history of planktonic foraminifera' -- subject(s): Foraminifera, Fossil, Fossil Foraminifera 'Evolution and geological significance of larger benthic foraminifera'
Harvey W. Anderson has written: 'Some Cretaceous Foraminifera of South Dakota' -- subject(s): Foraminifera, Fossil, Fossil Foraminifera
Helen Jeanne Plummer has written: 'Foraminifera of the Midway formation in Texas' -- subject(s): Foraminifera, Fossil, Fossil Foraminifera, Paleontology
Robert Wakeman Jones has written: 'Lower tertiary foraminifera from Waldport, Oregon' -- subject(s): Foraminifera, Fossil, Fossil Foraminifera
Brooks Fleming Ellis has written: 'Catalogue of planktonic Foraminifera' -- subject(s): Catalogs and collections, Foraminifera, Fossil Foraminifera, Fossils, Zooplankton 'Catalogue of Foraminifera' -- subject(s): Bibliography, Foraminifera 'Catalogue of Ostracoda' -- subject(s): Classification, Crustacea, Fossil Crustacea, Fossil Ostracoda, Ostracoda
D. H. McNeil has written: 'Cretaceous rocks and their foraminifera in the Manitoba escarpment' -- subject(s): Foraminifera, Fossil, Fossil Foraminifera, Paleontology
Lina Mercedes Balseiro has written: 'Upper cretaceous foraminifera of southern Colombia, S.A' -- subject(s): Foraminifera, Fossil, Fossil Foraminifera, Geology
Warren Norton has written: 'James River foraminifera' -- subject(s): Foraminifera
Alan Hilder Smout has written: 'Lower tertiary Foraminifera of the Qatar Peninsula' -- subject(s): Arabia, Foraminifera, Fossil, Fossil Foraminifera, Paleontology, Qatar
Nikolaos Solakius has written: 'Foraminifera and biostratigraphy of the Arnager Limestone, Bornholm, Denmark' -- subject(s): Animals, Fossil, Foraminifera, Fossil, Fossil Animals, Fossil Foraminifera
Cornelis Willem Drooger has written: 'Radial foraminifera' -- subject(s): Foraminifera
Steven Knowlton Fox has written: 'Cretaceous foraminifera from the Greenhorn, Carlile and Cody formations, South Dakota, Wyoming' -- subject(s): Foraminifera, Fossil, Fossil Foraminifera, Paleontology