Wikipedia:POTD column/June 5, 2006



Radiolarians are amoeboid protozoa that produce intricate mineral skeletons. They are found as plankton throughout the ocean, and their shells are important fossils found from the Cambrian onwards. This plate by Ernst Haeckel was one of many he drew of radiolarians, helping to popularize these protists among Victorian parlor microscopists.

Image credit: Ernst Haeckel Archive - More featured pictures...