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Foraminifera is a big group of unicellular eukaryotic and mostly
sea animals, having a hard shell of complexity striking for
unicellular organisms. It includes over 4,500 genera and about
40,000 species, mostly now extinct. Their usual size is about 0.5
mm but some giant forms may reach 17 to 20 cm. The
multi-chamberedness of their advanced forms with their complex
inner integrative systems represents the evolutionary attempt to
overcome a unicellular level of organization. The role of the
ramified system of the thinnest canals in their multi-chambered
shells could be compared with the role of the blood system in
Metazoans. The beauty of their shells attracted Leonardo da Vinci
to describe them in his ornaments. The highest morphological
variability of their shells along with the small number of their
chromosomes may permit their usage in the future as classical
objects of genetic-morphological studies. Their species are used as
bio-indicators of recent and paleo environments, as well as markers
of the carbohydrates bearing strata.
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