Heterohelix gradata is a species of foraminifers in the family Heterohelicidae. This species is extinct. Dead Heterohelix gradata formcalcareous oozes.
Definition: A taxon is Extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died. A \r\ntaxon is presumed Extinct when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitat, \r\nat appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout its historic range have failed \r\nto record an individual. Surveys should be over a time frame appropriate to the taxon’s life cycle and life form.
Definition: Calcareous ooze is a marine sediment composed primarily of the shells--also known as tests--of foraminifera, coccolithophores, and pteropods. This is the most common pelagic sediment by area, covering 48% of the world ocean's floor. This type of ooze is limited to depths above the Carbonate Compensation Depth at time of burial. It accumulates more rapidly than any other pelagic sediment type, with a rate that varies from 0.3 - 5 cm / 1000 yr.
Definition: Living in the fluid medium (water or air) but unable to maintain their position or distribution independently of the movement of the water/air mass (adapted from Lincoln et al., 1998).
Definition: Component found in mineralized skeletal tissue, (a specialized form of biogenic tissue in which the extracellular matrix is mineralized, and which functions in mechanical and structural support.)
Definition: Hard framework, internal or external, which supports and protects softer parts of plant, animal or unicellular organism, and to which muscles usually attach in animals, includes skeletons (derived from Lawrence, 2005).
