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Ostracods are microscopic crustaceans, most of them no larger than a grain of sand. This specimen of "Havanardia societatis" comes from a lagoon in French Polynesia and has valves with impressive lateral extensions that are specific to this species. It belongs to a major family that has lived for some 500 million years in marine environments ranging from coastal areas to the ocean depths. Fragile yet resilient, ostracods have survived the five mass extinctions that have punctuated the history…

Foraminifera are single-celled marine organisms that have inhabited marine or brackish environments from the poles to the equator for more than 500 million years. When alive, they are remarkable bio- indicators of the state of our oceans since they are particularly sensitive to pollution. As fossils, their mineral shells enable palaeontologists to reconstruct past climates. Foraminifera make up one of the most abundant and diverse groups of fossils. This 2 mm-long alveolinid specimen was…