page_title: Foraminifera
hierarchical_section_title: Foraminifera
caption_attribution_description: English: From English Wikipedia. Original description: Live Ammonia tepida benthic foraminiferan collected from San Francisco Bay. Phase-contrast photomicrograph by Scott Fay, UC Berkeley, 2005. Deutsch: Aus der englischen Wikipedia. Ursprüngliche Beschreibung: Lebende Ammonia tepida, eine benthische Foraminifere, gesammelt in der Bucht von San Francisco. Phasenkontrast-Mikrographie von Scott Fay, UC Berkeley, 2005.
context_page_description: Foraminifera or forams, as they are called, are an important group of tiny single-celled rhizarian eukaryotes. They are mostly marine, though a few live in fresh-water, and even on damp land areas. In the sea, they live both in the plankton, and in the deeper water. They have tests made of calcium carbonate.
  The organism has pseudopodia like an amoeba. It uses these to capture and eat bacteria and small diatoms. Also, many of them keep algal endosymbionts. Some are idioplastic, which means they eat the algae, but keep the algal chloroplasts for their own benefit.
  Forams are often used to date strata in palaeontology. The detailed record of forams from deep sea drilling projects are the basis of a fossil index for geological periods or stages. This is called biostratigraphy.
  Deep sea forams from the Mariana Trench are below the carbonate compensation depth, below which all CaCO₃ dissolves. They have evolved organic tests, instead of calcium carbonate ones. This suggests that the tests are a vital part of their life-style, perhaps protecting them from other micro-predators.
context_section_description: Foraminifera or forams, as they are called, are an important group of tiny single-celled rhizarian eukaryotes. They are mostly marine, though a few live in fresh-water, and even on damp land areas. In the sea, they live both in the plankton (pelagic), and in the deeper water (the benthos). They have tests (like shells) made of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃).
  The organism has pseudopodia like an amoeba. It uses these to capture and eat bacteria and small diatoms. Also, many of them keep algal endosymbionts. Some are idioplastic, which means they eat the algae, but keep the algal chloroplasts for their own benefit.
  Forams are often used to date strata in palaeontology. The detailed record of forams from deep sea drilling projects are the basis of a fossil index for geological periods or stages. This is called biostratigraphy.
  Deep sea forams from the Mariana Trench are below the carbonate compensation depth, below which all CaCO₃ dissolves. They have evolved organic tests, instead of calcium carbonate ones. This suggests that the tests are a vital part of their life-style, perhaps protecting them from other micro-predators.
caption: A living foram
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "E5000", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "QuickTime 7.0.2", "Image DateTime": "2005:10:12 17:45:13", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.4.2", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "262", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "770", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4003", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "EXIF ExposureTime": "5/57", "EXIF FNumber": "24/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "0000:00:00 00:00:00", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "0000:00:00 00:00:00", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "107/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "85", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}