Evolution of planktic organisms from benthic ancestors is commonly thought to represent unidirectional expansion into new ecological domains, possibly only once per clade. For foraminifera, this evolutionary expansion occurred in the Early-Middle Jurassic, and all living and extinct planktic foraminifera have been placed within 1 clade, the Suborder Globigerinina. The subsequent radiation of pl...

The discovery that foraminifera are able to use nitrate instead of oxygen as an electron acceptor for respiration has challenged our understanding of nitrogen cycling in the ocean. It was thought before that only prokaryotes and some fungi are able to denitrify. Rate estimates of foraminiferal denitrification have been very sparse and limited to specific regions in the oceans, not comparing sta...

abtalkh formation is a part of late cretaceous sedimentary unit in the kopet- dagh basin, ne iran. this study deals with the study of this formation in the eastern parts of the basin in padeha village. it thickness is about 991m, and lithologically consists of grey, greyish to blue shale and marl. the lower contact with abderaz formation is conformable and transitional, but the upper boundary w...

Larger symbiont-bearing foraminifera are prominent and important producers of calcium carbonate in modern tropical environments. With an estimated production of at least 130 million tons of CaCO(3) per year, they contribute almost 5% of the annual present-day carbonate production in the world's reef and shelf areas (0-200 m) and approximately 2.5% of the CaCO(3) of all oceans. Together with non...

Some new and poorly known larger benthic foraminifera are described from Middle Jurassic (Upper Aalenian–Bajocian) shallow-water limestones of the Croatian Karst Dinarides. Cymbriaella lorigae FUGAGNOLI is reported for the fi rst time outside its type-locality, the Upper Pliensbachian of the Southern Alps. New taxa described include Bosniella bassoulleti n. sp. and Dubrovnikella septfontainei n...

Large benthic foraminifera are unicellular calcifying reef organisms that can form symbiotic relationships with a range of different microalgae. However, the cellular functions, such as symbiosis and calcification, and other aspects of cellular physiology in large benthic foraminifera are not fully understood. Amphisorus kudakajimensis was used as a model to determine the detailed cellular char...

biofacies and palaeoecology of the limestone of the jahrum formation in the lar area in the southwest of iran (zagros basin) is addressed in this paper. our detailed analysis of biofacies and palaeoecology shows that the jahrum formation in the studied area were deposited in a carbonate open shelf dominated by heterozoan and, subordinately, photozoan skeletal assemblages. based on analysis of l...

Abstract We analyze the spatial distributions of two groups of benthic foraminifera (Adelosina spp. + Quinqueloculina spp. and Elphidium spp.), along Sicilian coast, and their correlation with six different heavy metals, responsible for the pollution. Samples were collected inside the Gulf of Palermo, which has a high level of pollution due to heavy metals, and along the coast of Lampedusa isla...

Factors influencing the composition of shallow water benthic foraminifera along the SW coast of South Africa at two locations (Table Bay, TB; St Helena Bay, SHB) ∼200km from each other were examined. Small taxa dominated in both locations; living assemblages from SHB (28 species, Ammonia parkinsoniana dominant) differed from TB (34 species, Elphidium articulatum dominant). Environmental paramet...

Many species of Indo-Pacific holobenthic foraminifera have been introduced and successfully established sustainable populations in the Mediterranean Sea over the past few decades. However, known natural and anthropogenic vectors do not explain how these species were introduced long distances from their origin. We present evidence for a novel marine bioinvasion vector explaining this long-distan...