Fossil groups

Microfossils from the animal and plant kingdoms Source: BGR

The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) carries out research on microfossil groups which originate from both the animal and the plant kingdom. However, as the fossils are really tiny, zoological and botanical micropaleontologists require light microscopes or a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for their scientific analyses.

High-resolution, biostratigraphic age dating and the reconstruction of past depositional environments and conditions on the basis of microfossils recovered from marine and continental sediments demand a high degree of specialization in selected fossil groups. Zoological micropaleontologists mainly investigate the remains of foraminifers (shelled unicellular organisms, protozoans), ostracods (crustaceans) and conodonts (tooth-like fossils from unknown animals). Micro-paleobotanists specialize on pollen and spores, dinocysts (unicellular algae), calcareous nannofossils (marine phytoplankton) and diatoms.