New data on the ways tiny, spiny marine animals calledforaminifera respond to changes in their environment may makethem more useful in reconstructing Earth's ocean and climatehistory, says a UC Davis researcher.For decades, scientists have used chemical analyses offossilized foraminifera shells to estimate the temperature ofthe waters where the creatures lived. But comparisons tocurrent conditions have showed that those estimates are notas accurate as researchers would like, says geology graduatestudent Bryan Bemis.The temperature estimates may be off as much as one or twodegrees Celsius, "and that's a lot when you're talking aboutEarth climate models.""To try to explain why existing equations don't work well, welooked at other things that affect the shell chemistry,"Bemis says. He collected foraminifera by scuba-diving nearCalifornia's Santa Catalina Island, then raised them undervarying conditions of light, temperature and seawateralkalinity.By matching the variables to the resulting shell chemistries,Bemis produced new equations that yield more accurate water-temperature estimates. And those "could help others makebetter climate models," Bemis says.Bemis will present his findings, made in collaboration withother UC and German researchers today at the annual meetingof the Geological Society of America in Salt Lake City, Utah.