Micropaleontology
![](/Images/godic/202501/27/Palais_de_la_Decouverte_Tyrannosaurus_rex_p10500420047.jpg")
![Diatomaceous earth is a soft, siliceous, sedimentary rock made up of microfossils in the form of the frustules (shells) of single cell diatoms. This sample consists of a mixture of centric (radially symmetric) and pennate (bilaterally symmetric) diatoms. This image of diatomaceous earth particles in water is at a scale of 6.236 pixels/μm, the entire image covers a region of approximately 1.13 by 0.69 mm.](/Images/godic/202501/27/Diatomaceous_Earth_BrightField0047.jpg")
![Fossil nummulitid foraminiferans showing microspheric and megalospheric individuals; Eocene of the United Arab Emirates; scale in mm.](/Images/godic/202501/27/Nummulitids0047.jpg")
Micropaleontology (also sometimes spelled as micropalaeontology) is the branch of palaeontology that studies microfossils, or fossils that require the use of a microscope to see the organism, its morphology and its characteristics details.