Specimen image via iDigBio · CC0
Nummulites
Sign in to saveA 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 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.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomChromista
- PhylumForaminifera
- ClassGlobothalamea
- OrderRotaliida
- FamilyNummulitidae
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 2,917
- With media
- 211
- Family
- Nummulitidae
- Collections
- NHMUK, UF, UCMP, YPM, NCSM
- Recorded in
- United States, Egypt, United Kingdom, Italy, Jordan, Malaysia
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Nummulitidae
- Image
- Roca Nummulites.jpg
Show 6 more facts
- taxon name
- Nummulites
- taxon rank
- genus
- Commons category
- Nummulites
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
- different from
- Nummulitidae
- temporal range start
- Paleocene
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
4 sectionsContents
- Gallery
- Use
- References
- Further reading
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 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. The name Nummulites is a diminutive form of the Latin nummulus 'little coin', a reference to their shape.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Nummulites” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.