Bridging the extant and fossil record of planktonic foraminifera: implications for the Globigerina lineage

Bridging the extant and fossil record of planktonic foraminifera: implications for the Globigerina lineage

We conducted a morphometric study and wall texture analysis on extant and fossil specimens of the planktonic foraminifera Globigerina falconensis plexus. Our global data reveal morphological inconsistencies between fossil and extant populations. Our results are significant as G. falconensis is widely used in palaeoceanographic studies in conjunction with its sister taxon G. bulloides. Morphologically these two species are similar, with the main difference being the distinctive apertural lip present in G. falconensis. We selected cores covering the entire stratigraphic range of G. falconensis, from the early Miocene to current day, spanning sites from high latitudes in the North Atlantic Ocean and the southern Indian Ocean to sites in equatorial regions. The morphology found in the modern ocean is not consistent with the Miocene holotype of Globigerina falconensis Blow described from lower Miocene sediments in Venezuela. A more lobate morphology evolved in the late Miocene, thus, a new name is required for this morphotype, coexisting in the modern oceans with G. falconensis s.s. We thus describe the new morphospecies, G. neofalconensis for the more lobate forms which evolved in the late Miocene and inhabit the modern oceans. Additionally, we report a pseudocancellate wall texture present in the G. falconensis plexus. We use the molecular sequences from the PR2 database to explore the generic attribution of the G. falconensis lineage, confirming its close relationship with G. bulloides and its retention in the genus Globigerina.

Globigerina, extant, genetic, morphometric, planktonic foraminifera, taxonomy

10.1111/pala.12676

0031-0239

Fabbrini, Alessio

250378cd-2fbf-45d2-a545-da01d2390b7e

Greco, Mattia

431cb3ba-8d07-4ae9-9540-3e36a29d7be0

Iacoviello, Francesco

1f4aeca4-5a22-4d14-9901-067669ca127b

Kucera, Michal

60f5b0d0-b552-45f9-96c0-f4a7004643ba

Ezard, Thomas H.G.

a143a893-07d0-4673-a2dd-cea2cd7e1374

Wade, Bridget S.

882ef710-e0e7-46a1-b382-eb48b1b31a03

1 November 2023

Fabbrini, Alessio

250378cd-2fbf-45d2-a545-da01d2390b7e

Greco, Mattia

431cb3ba-8d07-4ae9-9540-3e36a29d7be0

Iacoviello, Francesco

1f4aeca4-5a22-4d14-9901-067669ca127b

Kucera, Michal

60f5b0d0-b552-45f9-96c0-f4a7004643ba

Ezard, Thomas H.G.

a143a893-07d0-4673-a2dd-cea2cd7e1374

Wade, Bridget S.

882ef710-e0e7-46a1-b382-eb48b1b31a03

Fabbrini, Alessio, Greco, Mattia, Iacoviello, Francesco, Kucera, Michal, Ezard, Thomas H.G. and Wade, Bridget S. (2023) Bridging the extant and fossil record of planktonic foraminifera: implications for the Globigerina lineage. Palaeontology, 66 (6), [e12676]. (doi:10.1111/pala.12676).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Text

Palaeontology - 2023 - Fabbrini - Bridging the extant and fossil record of planktonic foraminifera implications for the - Version of Record

Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (6MB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 27 July 2023

Published date: 1 November 2023

Additional Information: Funding Information: This research was supported by Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/P019013/1 to BW and NE/P019269/1 to THGE. MK acknowledges funding by the Cluster of Excellence ‘The Ocean Floor—Earth's Uncharted Interface’ (EXC 2077, grant no. 390741603) granted through the German Research Foundation (DFG). The authors are grateful to Jim Davy for technical support in the SEM Lab at UCL. We also thank Steve Stukins from the NHM for providing access to the museum collections and Hartmut Schulz from the University of Tübingen for providing surface sediment samples from the Arabian Sea. The authors thank Paul Pearson for helpful and insightful discussions on foraminifera evolution and taxonomy and Luca Foresi for providing further samples and discussion. The authors are also grateful to Brian Huber at the Smithsonian Institution for providing holotype images of . . The authors are also grateful to Geert‐Jan Brummer, Kate Darling and Raphaël Morard for the insightful discussions and comments on this work. Hartmut Schulz, Tracy Aze and a third, anonymous, referee commented on earlier versions of the manuscript. G falconensis Funding Information: This research was supported by Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/P019013/1 to BW and NE/P019269/1 to THGE. MK acknowledges funding by the Cluster of Excellence ‘The Ocean Floor—Earth's Uncharted Interface’ (EXC 2077, grant no. 390741603) granted through the German Research Foundation (DFG). The authors are grateful to Jim Davy for technical support in the SEM Lab at UCL. We also thank Steve Stukins from the NHM for providing access to the museum collections and Hartmut Schulz from the University of Tübingen for providing surface sediment samples from the Arabian Sea. The authors thank Paul Pearson for helpful and insightful discussions on foraminifera evolution and taxonomy and Luca Foresi for providing further samples and discussion. The authors are also grateful to Brian Huber at the Smithsonian Institution for providing holotype images of G. falconensis. The authors are also grateful to Geert-Jan Brummer, Kate Darling and Raphaël Morard for the insightful discussions and comments on this work. Hartmut Schulz, Tracy Aze and a third, anonymous, referee commented on earlier versions of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Palaeontology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Palaeontological Association.

Keywords: Globigerina, extant, genetic, morphometric, planktonic foraminifera, taxonomy

Learn more about Institute for Life Sciences research Learn more about Institute for Life Sciences research