The evolutionary history of size variation of planktic foraminiferal assemblages in the Cenozoic

DOI

The iterative evolutionary radiation of planktic foraminifers is a well-documented macroevolutionary process. Here we document the accompanying size changes in entire planktic foraminiferal assemblages for the past 70 My and their relationship to paleoenvironmental changes. After the size decrease at the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/P) boundary, high latitude assemblages remained consistently small. Size evolution in low latitudes can be divided into three major phases: the first is characterized by dwarfs (65-42 Ma), the second shows moderate size fluctuations (42–14 Ma), and in the third phase, planktic foraminifers have grown to the unprecedented sizes observed today.Our analyses of size variability with paleoproxy records indicate that periods of size increase coincided with phases of global cooling (Eocene and Neogene). These periods were characterized by enhanced latitudinal and vertical temperature gradients in the oceans and high diversity (polytaxy). In the Paleocene and during the Oligocene, the observed (minor) size changes of the largely low-diversity (oligotaxic) assemblages seem to correlate with productivity changes. However, polytaxy per se was not responsible for larger test sizes.

Supplement to: Schmidt, Daniela N; Thierstein, Hans R; Bollmann, Jörg (2004): The evolutionary history of size variation of planktic foraminiferal assemblages in the Cenozoic. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 212(1-2), 159-180

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.694693
Related Identifier https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2004.06.002
Related Identifier https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1090592
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.694693
Provenance
Creator Schmidt, Daniela N ORCID logo; Thierstein, Hans R; Bollmann, Jörg
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2004
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Language English
Resource Type Supplementary Publication Series of Datasets; Collection
Format application/zip
Size 17 datasets
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (-43.489W, -58.441S, 76.794E, 30.142N); South Indian Ridge, South Indian Ocean; Indian Ocean; North Pacific Ocean; South Atlantic Ocean; Blake Nose, North Atlantic Ocean
Temporal Coverage Begin 1988-03-06T22:30:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 1997-01-27T02:00:00Z