As Jack explains: «Between 10,800 and 6,100 years ago, the number of testate amoeba present appears to be in sync with the amount of dust recorded, indicating that the dust is likely to be related to local droughts and soil erosion. (sciencedaily.com)
So she and her colleagues placed three dead pigs on the ground and measured their effects on the density of testate amoebas in the soil underneath the cadavers. (scientificamerican.com)
In addition, they also counted the numbers of various types of single - celled organisms called testate amoebae, whose population changes depending on the amount of water in the bog, giving an indication of how wet or dry the climate was during different periods. (sciencedaily.com)