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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 ]
Identification is integral to the archaeological analysis of animal remains. [10]: 1 Identification of animal remains requires a combination of anatomy, taxonomy, and studies of archaeological context. [10]: 1 The ability to identify a piece of bone requires knowing what element (bone in the body) it is, and to what animal the bone belongs.
Palaeozoology, also spelled as Paleozoology (Greek: παλαιόν, palaeon "old" and ζῷον, zoon "animal"), is the branch of paleontology, paleobiology, or zoology dealing with the recovery and identification of multicellular animal remains from geological (or even archeological) contexts, and the use of these fossils in the reconstruction of prehistoric environments and ancient ecosystems.
Fusulinid from the Plattsmouth Chert, Red Oak, Iowa ().Micropaleontology can be roughly divided into four areas of study on the basis of microfossil composition: (a) calcareous, as in coccoliths and foraminifera, (b) phosphatic, as in the study of some vertebrates, (c) siliceous, as in diatoms and radiolaria, or (d) organic, as in the pollen and spores studied in palynology.
Foraminifera (/ f ə ˌ r æ m ə ˈ n ɪ f ə r ə / fə-RAM-ə-NIH-fə-rə; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of Rhizarian protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonly an external shell (called a "test") of diverse forms and materials.
Index fossils must have a short vertical range, wide geographic distribution and rapid evolutionary trends. Another term, "zone fossil", is used when the fossil has all the characters stated above except wide geographical distribution; thus, they correlate the surrounding rock to a biozone rather than a specific time period.
Fusulinid limestone, Upper Pennsylvanian; Elk County, Kansas. Field of view is 3.9 cm wide. Link at source to view of entire slab. The Fusulinida is an extinct order within the Foraminifera in which the tests are traditionally considered to have been composed of microgranular calcite.
However, if the fossil species recorded are similar, the two sediments are likely to have been laid down around the same time. Ideally these fossils are used to help identify biozones, as they make up the basic biostratigraphy units, and define geological time periods based upon the fossil species found within each section.