Nummulite

Quality 0.50 · 3 views · Updated 2 months ago

Genus of Protozoan

title: "Nummulite" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rotaliida", "paleocene-life", "eocene-life", "oligocene-life", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1801", "fossils-of-colombia", "fossils-of-costa-rica", "fossils-of-egypt", "fossils-of-france", "fossils-of-germany", "fossils-of-greece", "fossils-of-haiti", "fossils-of-hungary", "fossils-of-india", "fossils-of-indonesia", "fossils-of-iran", "fossils-of-israel", "fossils-of-italy", "fossils-of-libya", "fossils-of-malaysia", "fossils-of-mexico", "fossils-of-new-caledonia", "fossils-of-oman", "fossils-of-pakistan", "fossils-of-panama", "fossils-of-poland", "fossils-of-puerto-rico", "fossils-of-saudi-arabia", "fossils-of-senegal", "fossils-of-the-seychelles", "fossils-of-slovenia", "fossils-of-somalia", "fossils-of-south-africa", "fossils-of-spain", "fossils-of-tanzania", "fossils-of-togo", "fossils-of-turkey", "fossils-of-great-britain", "fossils-of-the-united-states"] description: "Genus of Protozoan" topic_path: "geography/egypt" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nummulite" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of Protozoan ::

| fossil_range = | image = Nummulitids.jpg | image_caption = Fossil nummulitid foraminiferans showing microspheric and megalospheric individuals; Eocene of the United Arab Emirates; scale in mm. | taxon = Nummulites | authority = Lamarck, 1801 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = Numerous A nummulite is a large lenticular fossil, characterised by its numerous coils, subdivided by septa into chambers. They are the shells of the fossil and present-day marine protozoan Nummulites, a type of foraminiferan. Nummulites commonly vary in diameter from 13 to and are common in Eocene to Miocene marine rocks, particularly around southwest Asia and the Mediterranean in the area that once constituted the Tethys Ocean, such as Eocene limestones from Egypt or from Pakistan. Fossils up to six inches wide are found in the Middle Eocene rocks of Turkey. They are valuable as index fossils.

The ancient Egyptians used nummulite shells as coins and the pyramids were constructed using limestone that contained nummulites. It is not surprising then that the name Nummulites is a diminutive form of the Latin nummulus 'little coin', a reference to their shape.

In 1913, naturalist Randolph Kirkpatrick published a book, The Nummulosphere: an account of the Organic Origin of so-called Igneous Rocks and Abyssal Red Clays, proposing the unconventional theory that all rocks had been produced through the accumulation of forams such as Nummulites.

Gallery

Image:Makroforaminiferoak.jpg|Fossil nummulites in Urbasa, Navarre Image:NummuliteLyd.jpg|'A Nummilite, viewed from above, and horizontally bisected'

Use

Because nummulites are very abundant, easy to recognize, and lived in certain biozones, they are used as guide fossils. It is worth highlighting that thanks to the appearance of Nummulites tavertetensis in the Shallow Bentic Zone 15 (SBZ 15), it was possible to date the oldest fossil remains of Sirenio in Western Europe found in a new paleontological site, in Santa Brígida, Amer (La Selva, Catalunya, Spain) near an old quarry of stone limestone with nummulites.

References

References

  1. 'Nummulite', ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050327024714/http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/animals/data/m0063953.html Tiscali Dictionary of Animals]'', retrieved 17 August 2004
  2. Isquirth, Irwin Richard (2011). In ''The World Book Encyclopedia.'' print.
  3. (23 February 2018). "Facies and depositional settings of the Middle Eocene-Oligocene carbonates in Kutch". Geodinamica Acta.
  4. 'Biggest [[Microbes]]', ''Guinness World Records 2001'', p. 153.
  5. link. (2018-03-08 '', Speaking of Science, The Washington Post, March 7, 2018)
  6. Isquirth, Irwin Richard (2011). In ''The World Book Encyclopedia.'' print.
  7. Hottinger, Lukas. (2006-09-08). "Illustrated glossary of terms used in foraminiferal research".
  8. [https://www.academia.edu/33278040/Troballa_de_restes_de_sireni_al_Luteci%C3%A0_Eoc%C3%A8_mitj%C3%A0_de_Santa_Br%C3%ADgida_Amer_La_Selva_Girona_ Fuentes-Buxó, R., or, A. 2016. Troballa de restes de sireni al Lutecià (Eocè mitjà) de Santa Brígida (Amer, La Selva, Girona). Treballs del Museu de Geologia de Barcelona, 22: 19-24 .]

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

rotaliidapaleocene-lifeeocene-lifeoligocene-lifefossil-taxa-described-in-1801fossils-of-colombiafossils-of-costa-ricafossils-of-egyptfossils-of-francefossils-of-germanyfossils-of-greecefossils-of-haitifossils-of-hungaryfossils-of-indiafossils-of-indonesiafossils-of-iranfossils-of-israelfossils-of-italyfossils-of-libyafossils-of-malaysiafossils-of-mexicofossils-of-new-caledoniafossils-of-omanfossils-of-pakistanfossils-of-panamafossils-of-polandfossils-of-puerto-ricofossils-of-saudi-arabiafossils-of-senegalfossils-of-the-seychellesfossils-of-sloveniafossils-of-somaliafossils-of-south-africafossils-of-spainfossils-of-tanzaniafossils-of-togofossils-of-turkeyfossils-of-great-britainfossils-of-the-united-states