Biggest foram found, according to an article in Science, vol 308, 1406, 3 June 2005. Formaninifera (often abbreviated to “forams”) are single celled organisms with a shell. Mostly they are so tiny you need a microscope to see them. William Miller, a palaeontologist at Humboldt State University, California has found a fossil foram 143 mm (5.7 inches) long in “100 million year old marine rocks near the coast of Northern California.” The scientists who studied it suggest it may have been as long a 175 mm (7 inches) when alive. The shell is built from particles from the sea bed, such as sand and sponge spines. Scientists do not understand how it got to grow so big but Miller suggests it “must have had unique adaptations not shared with other protests, such as multiple nuclei to cope with the business of sporting such a large shell.”
Editorial Comment: If this extinct giant foram did have multiple nuclei or other adaptations, it was more complex than the microscopic forams that are alive today. Extinction of larger, more complex organisms in favour of smaller less complex organisms is no help to the theory of evolution. The history of life is not one of a few simple organisms developing into many complex organisms. The fossil record shows us that in the past there were many more large organisms than there are today. This fits with Genesis, which tells us that in the beginning God created fully formed complex creatures, but that original good world has been badly affected by human sin and God’s judgement. As the environment has degenerated many large and complex creatures have died out, including giant formaninfera. (Ref. protozoa, cells, fossils)