Milioliini

Milioliini is a tribe of marine protozoa belonging to the order Miliolida, which are foraminiferans. Foraminiferans are single-celled organisms that produce shells, or tests, typically composed of calcium carbonate. The Milioliida are characterized by the arrangement of their initial chambers, often in a coiled or cyclical pattern, and their tests are usually imperforate, meaning they lack pores. The Milioliini specifically are known for their distinctive chamber arrangement, which can vary but often involves a planispiral or trochospiral coiling.

Members of the Milioliini are found in marine environments worldwide, from shallow coastal waters to the deep sea. They are benthic, meaning they live on the seafloor or attached to substrates. Their diet consists of smaller planktonic organisms, algae, and detritus, which they capture using a network of pseudopodia that extend from their test. The fossil record of foraminiferans is extensive, and the Milioliini, as a group, have a long evolutionary history. They are often used in paleoenvironmental studies to reconstruct past ocean conditions due to their abundance and sensitivity to environmental factors. The exact classification and definition of genera within Milioliini can be subject to ongoing research and revision based on new morphological and molecular data.