On the afternoon of February 12, the "Heart of the Ocean - Foraminifera Science Exhibition" hosted by the Department of Culture and Tourism of Shandong Province (Shandong Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics) and undertaken by Shandong Museum was officially launched at the Shandong Museum. The foraminifera family displayed in front of the audience is a magical creature with a 500 million-year history of survival, which will surely attract the attention of the majority of museum enthusiasts.
This exhibition can be said to be one of the measures of the cultural tourism industry in our province to help the strategy of strengthening the province, and it is also another attempt by the Shandong Museum to strengthen cooperation with the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Foraminifera are shelled or shellless, single-celled animals composed of a clump of protoplasm belonging to the protozoal kingdom granulocons Phylum Foraminifera. There are one or more openings in the shell surface or shell mouth for the pseudopod to protrude. Foraminifera often have holes in the next door between different atriums, hence the name foraminifera.
The smallest foraminifera in a single adult cell is only 0.02 mm in size and up to 110 mm in size, making it the largest and most diverse group of protozoa. Scientific research has found that foraminifera has a history of more than 500 million years since the Cambrian Period, and there are more than 40,000 known fossil species and more than 6,000 living species, the vast majority of which are marine species, camp benthic or planktonic life.
The exhibition was strongly supported by the team of academician Zheng Shouyi of the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Zheng Shouyi, born in the Philippines in 1931, returned to China in 1956 and is now a researcher at the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2001, he was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has been engaged in marine biology research for a long time and has carried out modern foraminifera research in China for more than 60 years, and is one of the pioneers and founders of this research field in China. In 2003, he was awarded the Kushman Prize, the highest international award for foraminifera research. Academician Zheng Shouyi is committed to the application of science education and scientific research, developed the first domestic and international rare foraminifera model, the original only under the microscope can see the foraminifera, carved into the current some like shells, some like clay pots, some like whistles, some like garland models, vividly presented in front of the public,become people can see and touch the scientific research teaching aids, popular science exhibits, tourism souvenirs and large sculptures.
During the preparation of the exhibition, Academician Zheng and her team and the business staff of The Shandong Museum conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on the selection and identification of foraminifera specimen species, the preparation and display method of the display outline, which not only ensured the academic nature of the exhibition, but also enhanced the effect of science popularization.
Foraminifera average only 1 mm, in order to present such a small organism to the general audience, Shandong Museum also invited Shandong Pictorial News Senior Reporter, famous photographer Hou Xinjian researcher, to overcome difficulties together, from scanning electron microscopy, to ultra-depth of field microscopy technology, to micro photography shooting, one by one to try, and finally reached the perfect integration of science and art, presenting a wonderful and chic microscopic marine life world to the audience.
"Heart of the Ocean - Foraminifera Science Exhibition" is located in Hall 19, the third floor of Shandong Museum. A total of 126 foraminifera specimens, more than 50 specimen enlargement models, and more than 100 specimen photomicrography photos were exhibited, presenting the artistic beauty, diversity of species, survival adaptability, and environmental significance indicated by the shell of foraminifera from multiple angles. During the Spring Festival, the exhibition was previewed, receiving an average of more than 10,000 visitors per day, becoming a highlight of many exhibition activities in Shandong Museum.
Background information
Academician Zheng Shouyi Profile:
Zheng Shouyi was born in the Philippines in 1931 and is a native of Zhongshan, Guangdong Province. He studied at the Eastern University of the Philippines and the Graduate School of the National University of the Philippines, and returned to China in 1956, where he is now a researcher at the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2001, he was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Zheng Shouyi has been engaged in marine biology research for a long time, and has pioneered and developed modern foraminifera research in China for more than half a century, and is one of the founders of this discipline in China. She broke through the traditional morphological identification methods, reformed and innovated research methods, and described and recorded more than 1,500 species of foraminifera in Chinese waters, including 1 new family, 1 new subfamily, 24 new genera and 290 new species. Personally draw nearly 10,000 foraminifera morphological maps, complete the quantitative counting of thousands of measurement stations (times), so that China's modern foraminifera research among the international advanced ranks. On this basis, the distribution rules of foraminifera fauna, ecological characteristics and multiple foraminifera parameters in China are comprehensively and systematically summarized. She established the new genus Septotextularia, which corrected the misconceptions of her predecessors for nearly a hundred years. In 2003, he was awarded the Kushman Prize, the highest international award for foraminifera research.
Introduction to Foraminifera:
Foraminifera are shelled or shellless, single-celled microbial organisms belonging to the protivial realm granulous reticulostomy phylum foraminifera. The protoplasm differentiates into two layers: the thin and transparent outer layer is called the exoplasm; the dark inner layer is called the endoplasm. Many rhizome or filamentous pseudopods protrude from the exoplasm, which are often bifurcated, branched, and connected laterally or diagonally in a network. Exoplasm and pseudopod secretion shells form foraminifera shells. There are one or more openings in the shell for the pseudopod to protrude. Foraminifera often have holes in the next door between different atriums, hence the name foraminifera. Its single adult cells are as small as 0.02 mm and as large as 110 mm, which is the largest and most diverse group of protozoa. Among the more than 65,000 species of protozoa, foraminifera account for more than 40,000 species, of which 5,000-6,000 species are live species, the vast majority of which are marine, benthic or planktonic. Foraminifera is widely distributed and occurs in almost all marine environments, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from the high tide to the low tide zone, from the inland shelf to the deep sea, and even in the ultra-deep sea of more than 10,000 meters. Although they are tiny single cells, they are also like higher animals and plants, carrying out and completing various life processes in order to survive and pass.
(One Point Old Joe's Travels)
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