Los foraminíferospresente y pasado
- García, Julián
- Calonge García, Amelia
- Caus Gracia, Esmeralda
ISSN: 1132-9157
Year of publication: 2001
Issue Title: Los fósiles
Volume: 9
Issue: 2
Pages: 144-150
Type: Article
More publications in: Enseñanza de las ciencias de la tierra: Revista de la Asociación Española para la Enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Tierra
Abstract
Foraminifera is a group whose abundant fossil record through geological time, evolution, complexity and size makes it a superb tool to study both the present and the past time of the Earth. In order to better know this group, the live animal, its main features are first studied, as well as its ecological conditioning events and life cycle.On the other hand, when a paleobiological study is conducted, the basic element and the unique fossil that allows differentiating the Foraminifera are the shell. So, the shell constitute such a valuable information about the features of the living animal and help to understand the ecological success of the organism in specific environments and its evolutionary trends throughout the history of life. Several interesting features derived from the study of this group such as: its importance as rock forming materials, its applicability to establish time scales, to solve biological problems or forecast the future, are described at the end.