portrait tepida

Description:

This is the top (spiral) surface of a gamont of Ammonia parkinsoniana. Forams have complex and varied reproductive cycles. Some forms, such as this species, alternate between agamonts/schizonts (which are produced when two gametes fuse) and gamonts (which are produced when an agamont splits up into hundreds of smaller individuals). The two types often look so distinct from each other that they were originally mistaken for different species. Image courtesy of Pamela Stephens, Midwestern State University.