Editing Microfossil (section)

==Composition==
[[File:Deep Sea Drilling Project microfossils.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3| {{center|Microfossils from a [[deep sea sediment]] core}}]]

Microfossils can be classified by their composition as: (a) [[silicate|siliceous]], as in [[diatom]]s and [[radiolaria]], (b) [[calcareous]], as in [[coccolith]]s and [[foraminifera]], (c) [[Phosphate|phosphatic]], as in the study of some [[vertebrate]]s, or (d) [[organic matter|organic]], as in the [[pollen]] and [[spores]] studied in [[palynology]]. This division focuses on differences in the mineralogical and chemical composition of microfossil remains rather than on [[scientific classification|taxonomic]] or [[ecological]] distinctions.

* Siliceous microfossils: [[Silicate|Siliceous]] microfossils include [[diatoms]], [[radiolaria]]ns, [[silicoflagellate]]s, [[Ebriid|ebridians]], [[phytolith]]s, some [[scolecodonts]] (worm jaws), and [[sponge spicule]]s.
* Calcareous microfossils: [[Calcareous]] ([[Calcium carbonate|CaCO<sub>3</sub>]]) microfossils include [[coccolith]]s, [[foraminifera]], [[calcareous dinoflagellate cysts]], and [[ostracod]]s (seed shrimp).
* Phosphatic microfossils: [[Phosphate|Phosphatic]] microfossils include [[conodont]]s (tiny oral structures of an extinct chordate group), some [[scolecodonts]] (worm jaws), [[shark]] spines and teeth and other [[fish]] remains (collectively called [[ichthyolith]]s).
* Organic microfossils: The study of [[organic matter|organic]] microfossils is called [[palynology]]. Organic microfossils include [[pollen]], [[spores]], [[chitinozoa]]ns (thought to be the egg cases of marine invertebrates), [[scolecodonts]] (worm jaws), [[acritarchs]], [[dinoflagellate cysts]], and [[fungal]] remains.

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