: any of three classes (Acantharia, Polycystina, and Phaeodaria) of usually spherical chiefly planktonic marine protozoans having radiating threadlike pseudopodia and often a siliceous skeleton of spicules
radiolarianadjective
Illustration of radiolarian
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebThe organic carbon decline coincided with the disappearance of more than 50 species of radiolarians, which served as a food source for numerous marine species and whose disappearance was an indicator of a major biological crisis. Reuters, WIRED, 10 May 2001