Nowadays, Nummulite is a topic that generates great interest and debate in today's society. More and more people are interested in learning more about Nummulite and its impact on various areas of daily life. From personal aspects to social issues, Nummulite has become a relevant topic that deserves to be explored and analyzed carefully. Throughout this article, we will examine different perspectives and approaches related to Nummulite, with the aim of providing a critical and enriching vision on this currently highly discussed topic.
Nummulite Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
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, 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) 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 or from Pakistan. Fossils up to six inches wide are found in the Middle Eocene rocks of Turkey. They are valuable as index fossils.
The ancient Egyptians used nummulite shells as coins and the pyramids were constructed using limestone that contained nummulites. It is not surprising then that the name Nummulites is a diminutive form of the Latin nummulus 'little coin', a reference to their shape.
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.