How to find dinosaur fossils | American Museum of Natural History

This single-celled foraminifera is all kinds of fascinating. Sometimes called armored amoebae, forams build shells for themselves and then send out extensions of their cells through holes in the shell to move and feed. Therefore, it makes sense that they are called “foraminifera”, meaning the “hole-bearers”. The shell composition can vary with species but this one is made from calcium carbonate. When the foram dies, the soft body will decompose while the hard shell is often fossilized – there ar