CHAPTER XI 

 Foraminifera 



THE majority of the shells of the Foraminifera 

 (Lat. foramen, an aperture ; fero, to bear) 

 have numbers of tiny openings throughout their 

 whole surface, so that the finely extended feelers or 

 pseudopodia (Gk. pseudos, false ; pous, foot) may 

 protrude in any direction. We must not, however, 

 imagine that the tiny creatures have definite feelers 

 or false feet, for they are simply extensions of the 

 sarcode, similar to those of the rhizopods of fresh 

 water, described in Chapter XII. 



These marine rhizopods constitute by far the most 

 important order of this class of life. This will be 

 apparent if we take into consideration the vast 

 quantities in which they have existed from very early 

 times, and from the enormous extent in which their 

 remains have contributed to the formation of rocks. 

 Most of them live on the bottoms of oceans and seas, 

 creeping on the seaweeds, dead shells, and corals, and 

 are food for sponges and other creatures. Large 

 numbers, however, live on the surfaces of oceans and 

 seas, their dead shells continually descending to the 

 depths below, where they form ocean mud, as in the 



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