科學(xué)家在嵌入新西蘭北部海邊懸崖中的一個(gè)5米寬的碳酸鹽礦物團(tuán)中發(fā)現(xiàn)了許多帶殼微生物的化石（如上圖），而這些微生物只有在海底滲漏碳?xì)浠衔?mdash;—例如甲烷或天然瀝青——的地方才能夠茁壯成長(zhǎng),。
盡管這個(gè)礦物團(tuán)如今位于海平面上方幾米的地方,，但是分析表明，在2000萬(wàn)年前,，這些礦物質(zhì)形成于海平面下600米到2000米的區(qū)域中,，而甲烷正是從海底的這些地方滲漏出來(lái)的。大多數(shù)的生物都棲息在這樣的滲漏環(huán)境中,，包括一些微生物也生活在附近的水域中,。
而此次在碳酸鹽礦物中發(fā)現(xiàn)的Amphimorphinella butonensis是一種已經(jīng)滅絕且極為罕見的物種,，之前僅發(fā)現(xiàn)于印度尼西亞中部的石灰?guī)r中。在深海碳?xì)浠衔餄B漏遺址中再次發(fā)現(xiàn)Amphimorphinella butonensis,，表明生物能夠適應(yīng)一些獨(dú)一無(wú)二的環(huán)境,。研究人員在5月的《地質(zhì)學(xué)》雜志網(wǎng)絡(luò)版上報(bào)告了這一發(fā)現(xiàn)。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
GEOLOGY doi: 10.1130/G31974.1
An extinct foraminifer endemic to hydrocarbon seeps
Bruce W. Hayward1, Murray R. Gregory2 and James P. Kennett3
Modern seafloor hydrocarbon seeps are usually surrounded by an unusual macrobiota dominated by symbiont-bearing endemic bivalves and worms. Numerous species of foraminifera (shelled protists) also live around hydrocarbon seeps, but none have been found that are endemic to this environment. An extinct species of benthic foraminifera (Amphimorphinella butonensis) has been found in large numbers in a 15-m-diameter patch of siltstone surrounding a Miocene concretionary carbonate mound (inferred to be a fossil methane seep) in New Zealand. The tests exhibit highly negative δ13C values, consistent with a methane-rich environment of recrystallization on or just below the seafloor. This extremely rare species has been recorded only once before, from asphalt-impregnated Miocene muddy limestone in Indonesia, most likely also associated with hydrocarbon seepage. Is this the first record of a foraminiferal species that was specifically adapted, and endemic, to hydrocarbon seep environments?
