Micropaleontology is the branch of paleontology that investigates fossils of microscopic organisms, typically in the size range of about 1 µm to 1 mm, using optical and electron microscopy, imaging, and geochemical techniques. It focuses on groups such as foraminifera, radiolarians, calcareous nannoplankton, diatoms, and palynomorphs preserved in sedimentary records. Micropaleontological analyses are central to biostratigraphy, high-resolution chronostratigraphy, paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstruction, and petroleum exploration, where species assemblages, morphologies, and shell geochemistry (e.g., stable isotopes, trace elements) provide quantitative proxies for past oceanographic, atmospheric, and depositional conditions on regional to global scales.
New technology has helped a team of scientists uncover more than 20 microscopic fossils, including a species previously unknown to science. The discovery may provide us with fresh insights into the Late Ordovician, one of ...
Some of the most ancient fossils collected to date were traced back to the Ediacaran period. This is the time interval ranging from around 635 to 541 million years ago, shortly before the time when scientists predict that ...
In a study published in Historical Biology, Dr. Mohammed Naimi and his colleagues report the discovery of the first plesiosaurian remains from Algeria. Additionally, the fossil, dated to the Late Coniacian, is one of only ...
A new study suggests the world's oxygen-depleted seas may have a chance of returning to higher oxygen concentrations in the centuries to come, despite our increasingly warming climate.
Earth Sciences
Jan 29, 2026
2
98
More than 3.5 billion years ago, the Earth was not the hospitable world we know today. The atmosphere lacked oxygen, the seas were acidic and rich in iron, and volcanic activity roared across a barren landscape. Yet, in this ...
Evolution
Jan 23, 2026
0
58
The asteroid that struck the Earth 66 million years ago devastated life across the planet, wiping out the dinosaurs and other organisms in a hail of fire and catastrophic climate change. But new research shows that it also ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 22, 2026
0
193
A research team led by Associate Professor Wang Yaqiong from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS), in collaboration with colleagues from multiple domestic and international ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 2, 2026
0
29
A research team led by scientists at Kumamoto University has discovered a new genus of microscopic crustaceans from northern Japan, offering rare insights into how ocean currents in the North Pacific shifted during a key ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Dec 29, 2025
0
155
A global review of tiny sea animals called foraminifera has identified 57 new living species, including three from NZ waters. The NZ-led research team used DNA sequencing and physical structure to describe types of foraminifera ...
Ecology
Nov 14, 2025
0
35
A quest to discover new antibiotics is taking a Cal Poly biochemistry research team back in time millions of years as they study ancient microorganisms.
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 13, 2025
0
29
