Temporal range: Late Cretaceous to Recent (85.8Ma-0.0Ma)
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Fossil nummulitid foraminiferans showing microspheric and megalospheric individuals; Eocene of the United Arab Emirates; scale in mm.
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Clade:
Diaphoretickes
Clade:
SAR
Phylum:
Retaria
Subphylum:
Foraminifera
Class:
Globothalamea
Order:
Rotaliida
Family:
Nummulitidae
Genus:
Nummulites Lamarck, 1801
Species
Numerous
A nummulite is a large lenticular fossil, characterised by its numerous coils,[1] subdivided by septa into chambers. They are the shells of the fossil and present-day marine protozoan Nummulites, a type of foraminiferan. Nummulites commonly vary in diameter from 1.3 cm (0.5 inches) to 5 cm (2 inches)[2] and are common in Eocene to Miocene marine rocks, particularly around southwest Asia and the Mediterranean in the area that once constituted the Tethys Ocean, such as Eocene limestones from Egypt[3] or from Pakistan.[4] Fossils up to six inches wide are found in the Middle Eocene rocks of Turkey.[5] They are valuable as index fossils.
The ancient Egyptians used nummulite shells as coins and the pyramids were constructed using limestone that contained nummulites.[3][6] It is not surprising then that the name Nummulites is a diminutive form of the Latin nummulus 'little coin', a reference to their shape.[7]
In 1913, naturalist Randolph Kirkpatrick published a book, The Nummulosphere: an account of the Organic Origin of so-called Igneous Rocks and Abyssal Red Clays, proposing the unconventional theory that all rocks had been produced through the accumulation of forams such as Nummulites.
^'Nummulite', Tiscali Dictionary of Animals, retrieved 17 August 2004
^Isquirth, Irwin Richard (2011). In The World Book Encyclopedia. print.
^ abKaplan, Sarah, Brilliance without a brain Archived 2018-03-08 at the Wayback Machine, Speaking of Science, The Washington Post, March 7, 2018
^Banerjee, Santanu; Khanolkar, Sonal; Saraswati, Pratul Kumar (23 February 2018). "Facies and depositional settings of the Middle Eocene-Oligocene carbonates in Kutch". Geodinamica Acta. 30 (1): 119–136. doi:10.1080/09853111.2018.1442609. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
^'Biggest Microbes', Guinness World Records 2001, p. 153.
^Isquirth, Irwin Richard (2011). In The World Book Encyclopedia. print.
^Hottinger, Lukas (2006-09-08). "Illustrated glossary of terms used in foraminiferal research". Paleopolis. Archived from the original on 2012-06-21. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
A nummulite is a large lenticular fossil, characterised by its numerous coils, subdivided by septa into chambers. They are the shells of the fossil and...
Syringammina fragilissima achieving a diameter of up to 20 cm (7.9 in) Nummulite, foraminiferans Valonia ventricosa, an alga of the class Chlorophyceae...
can be seen to be full of a wide variety of fossil shells. Disc-shaped nummulite fossils are common in places, and often coat the desert floor. A large...
modifications, such as a mammoth tooth with an incision and a fossil nummulite shell with a cross etched in from Tata, Hungary; a large slab with 18...
quarter, is not modern. Strabo commented on fossil formation mentioning Nummulite (quoted from Celâl Şengör): One extraordinary thing which I saw at the...
The Egyptian pyramids were constructed from limestone that contained nummulites. Shelled and naked amoeba Naked amoeba sketch showing food vacuoles and...
an ancient sea, but for the next millions of years, sea shells such as nummulites were collected above the seabed. They were then formed into limestone...
Pyramid of Giza. These are today recognized as representatives of the genus Nummulites. Strabo, in the 1st Century BCE, noted the same foraminifera, and suggested...
environment near the continental shelf. Fossils such as echinoids and nummulites can be seen in the different sections of this limestone formation which...
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