Forams Are Pretty Weird—And Really Cool
Sure, they can chow down on the equivalent of a turkey, but if we’re being real, forams are pretty cool. They tell us more about our world than nearly anything else. Though almost everyone loves dinosaurs, Lam said their fossil record isn’t great because terrestrial animals don’t preserve as well as marine invertebrates, such as clams or gastropods. Yet, she said not even marine invertebrates can compare to forams because their fossil record is obscured by changes in sea level and erosion.
Forams’ fossil record is fantastic because the critters have a quick life cycle, occur in high numbers, and have hard outer shells. In addition, their fossil record in open marine environments isn’t as easily disturbed by changes in sea level.
“For these reasons, foraminifera arguably have the most complete fossil record,” Lam said. “We can take ships out into the middle of the ocean, drill down through the seafloor, and bring back sediment cores that are absolutely filled with fossil foraminifera tests! In some areas of the world ocean, the sediments are almost 100% foraminifera tests, which is really spectacular.”
