Re: Favorite Paleotrivia?

[gerarus@westnet.com.au]

At least one species of the Recent plate-shaped xenophyophore _Stannophyllum_ 
gets even larger - nearly a foot across (but only a few millimetres deep). 
Again, like _Nummulites_ (and most forams, for that matter) it's coenocytic 
rather than mononucleate (unicellular vs. multicellular can be a surprisingly 
difficult thing to define for coenocytic organisms).

Now I think of it, hexactinellid sponges are also coenocytic, which would make 
them arguably unicellular. The central spicule of _Monorhaphis chuni_ gets up 
to three metres in length.

    Cheers,

        Christopher Taylor

http://catalogue-of-organisms.blogspot.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Marjanovic" <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>
To: "DML" <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Sent: Friday, 13 March, 2009 7:39:44 AM GMT +08:00 Perth
Subject: Re: Favorite Paleotrivia?

> Fossils of the marine protozoan genus Nummulites (a single-celled
> organism) are up to 15 cm across, making them larger than many fossil
> birds and mammals

Well, "single-celled"... it cheats. Each of the tiny chambers has a nucleus 
of its own.