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Testate amoebae (also referred to as rhizopods, thecamoebians and arcellaceans) are single-celled organisms in which the cytoplasm is enclosed within an external shell (the test). They live in a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, including wet soils, lakes and saltmarshes, and fossil tests have been recovered from sediments from all these environments. This paper reviews existing and recently developed applications of testate amoebae analysis to biostratigraphic description of Quaternary sediments and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Advances in testate amoebae analysis are discussed for three key areas of Quaternary research and the potential for the further exploration and use of the technique is emphasised. These areas are: (1) Peatlands and palaeoclimates: Testate amoebae have been used as a new method of reconstructing palaeoclimates from ombrotrophic peats; (2) lake sediments …