What are forams?
Q: What are forams?
A: Forams are an important group of tiny single-celled rhizarian eukaryotes. They are also known as foraminifera.
Q: Where do forams live?
A: Forams mostly live in the marine environment, but some can be found in fresh water and even on damp land areas. In the sea, they inhabit both the plankton (pelagic) and deeper waters (the benthos).
Q: What is their shell made of?
A: The shells of forams are made of calcium carbonate (CaCO3).
Q: How do they capture food?
A: Forams use pseudopodia like an amoeba to capture and eat bacteria and small diatoms.
Q: What is idioplasticity?
A: Idioplasticity refers to a behavior where forams eat algae but keep the algal chloroplasts inside them for their own benefit.
Q: How are forams used in palaeontology?
A: Forams are often used to date strata in palaeontology due to their detailed record from deep sea drilling projects which form a fossil index that can be used to identify geological periods or stages - this is called biostratigraphy.
Q: How have some deep sea foram species adapted to survive below the carbonate compensation depth?
A: Some deep sea foram species have evolved organic tests instead of calcium carbonate ones, suggesting that these tests may protect them from other micro-predators.
