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.
A 113-million-year-old marine murder mystery may finally be solved. Using chemical clues locked inside microscopic fossils, Northwestern University scientists found evidence that ocean acidification drove one of the largest ...
Earth Sciences
6 hours ago
0
5
Extant and ancient cephalopods—including octopuses, squids, extinct ammonites, cuttlefish and nautiluses—have all had to solve the problem of buoyancy, whether they have hard external shells or not.
Evolution
Jul 29, 2026
0
106
How life started on our own planet may not seem as interesting as finding evidence of life on Mars or the icy moons Europa or Enceladus. But the search for the first eukaryotes on Earth remains as important to astrobiology ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 20, 2026
0
56
Many animals exhibit fascinating collective behaviors, which allow them to move, search for food, reproduce and avoid threats more effectively than they would alone. One of these behaviors is queuing migration, which essentially ...
Researchers at iC3 have found a way to improve records of past high latitude ocean change using tiny plankton shells called foraminifera. By growing these foraminifera under controlled cold-water conditions, the team has ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 1, 2026
0
12
Stored in an open-air warehouse in tropical Darwin, Australia, are dozens of trays containing cylindrical cores of rock. They are from drill holes bored hundreds of meters below the surface by mineral exploration companies ...
Evolution
May 23, 2026
0
279
A reexamination of microfossils found in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul shows that the marks previously interpreted as traces of worms or other small oceanic animals are actually communities of fossilized microscopic ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 11, 2026
0
24
Approximately 145 million: That's the number of specimens—including plants, animals, minerals, and human artifacts—curators estimate are held in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. However, these estimates ...
Biotechnology
May 5, 2026
0
13
Tiny plankton shells used to reconstruct past polar ocean temperatures may contain two different chemical stories, a new study by iC3 researchers has found. The work shows that Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, a key species in ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 30, 2026
1
20
Scientists have uncovered the earliest fossil evidence of annelids (ringed worms) in Cambrian microfossils dating back approximately 535 million years ago. This discovery offers fresh insights into the origin and early evolution ...
Evolution
Apr 20, 2026
0
43
