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Planktonic foraminifera

Planktonic foraminifera are calcareous zooplankton that live in the surface waters of the ocean. The fossil shells (tests) are generally less than 0.5 mm in size and leave a long and valuable fossil record that we can exploit to document changes in the temperature and productivity of the oceans through time (mainly Cretaceous and Cenozoic).

Modern planktonic foraminifera Trilobatus sacculifer (left) & Extinct planktonic foraminifera Dentoglobigerina altispira (right)

Trilobatus sacculifer

altispira

Oligocene Atlas

UCL Foram Lab

Sir David Attenborough

Foram Lab
Microscopes