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The Beauty Of Forams


Xenocidaris

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All of the specimens added below are foraminifers, single-celled creatures, of which some form hard shells which can fossilize. All shown specimens are Eo-/Mio-/Pliocene specimens and none of them exceeds 0.25 inches in length. (There are however, foram species that can reach almost 4 inches in length, that's huge for a single celled organism!) They were found exsitu when picking residues from a sandpit. I just love finding them!

Aren't forams nice?

Sincerely,

Bram

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Fossils: a way of life

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They are beautiful, Bram!

Great pictures!!

Thanks for sharing them with us. :)

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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They are wondrous creatures; complicated architecture from a single cell!

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Very nice! I am thrilled to see some examples of larger forams as I am used to seeing and collecting only the embedded "rice grain" variety. Thanks for sharing these excellent photos! :thumbsu: I wish I had a sandpit to dig in!

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.

Charles Darwin

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stunning Bram, I;d like to try this type of fossil collecting, what is the general area of your "sand pit", out of curiosity? :)

(btw, for a slowpoke poster like me, it was fun to see the "a new reply has been added, would you like to read it" message, when someone replied to this thread 'fore I finished my reply, a new board feature?...)

"Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile." Lepidus

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I love forams too.

They are often beautiful, and quite common.

I've collected masses of fusulinids many times, but I've also delved into the smaller types. Some years back, I had some limestone chunks on hand. I spotted a few tiny forams in the pieces. I then busted through some of the rock, and found some more, including a nice little Glyphostomella, which is about a millimeter in size (not my images):

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I have since collected a bunch of the rock, and may spend some of my winter picking through it.

Context is critical.

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stunning Bram, I;d like to try this type of fossil collecting, what is the general area of your "sand pit", out of curiosity? :)

(btw, for a slowpoke poster like me, it was fun to see the "a new reply has been added, would you like to read it" message, when someone replied to this thread 'fore I finished my reply, a new board feature?...)

Yes, I think it's new..

Welcome to the forum!

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its amazing how the shells in pics #3-5 and #6-9 resemble paleozoic cephalopod shells. convergent evolution, anyone?

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Thanks for all the great replies!

Xonenine, the sandpit is located near Antwerp, Belgium, Europe, so kind of far away :)

Sincerely,

Bram

Fossils: a way of life

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  • 2 weeks later...

I spent a couple of hours during the last few days picking more forams from the residue. Below is a picture of most of them, sadly most of the longer specimens are damaged, but some are still complete. Also added a close-up picture of a specimen of a more unusual species, the first specimen I found of it sofar.

Sincerely,

Bram

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Fossils: a way of life

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