New insights into the taxonomy and evolution of Jurassic planktonic foraminifera

Abstract Globuligerina glinskikhae nov. sp. Gradstein & Waskowska and Globuligerina waskowskae nov. sp. Gradstein are new species of Jurassic planktonic foraminifera from the Middle Jurassic of Dagestan and Poland. G. glinskikhae nov. sp. with its remarkable ‘protoglobigerine’ test may be an early evolutionary offshoot of Globuligerina oxfordiana (Grigelis). It may be an index taxon for upper Bajocian through Bathonian strata in Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia, and might be recognizable also in thin sections. We consider G. waskowskae nov. sp. to be a possible forerunner of Conoglobigerina helvetojurassica (Haeusler), the first planktonic foraminiferal species with a reticulate wall texture. Currently, is only known from Poland. In some localities, specimens of G. oxfordiana and of G. glinskikhae nov. sp. posses an additional apertural opening, often lacking a rim; its function is enigmatic. The postulated lineage from Jurassic Globuligerina balakhmatovae (Morozova) to Cretaceous Clavihedbergella eocretacea Neagu is refined with the description of Petaloglobigerina simmonsi nov. gen., nov. sp. Gradstein from the Kimmeridgian of Portugal. The evolutionary transition from G. balakhmatovae to P. simmonsi occurs by means of the ontogenic development of a petaloid test, with a pronounced flattening of the whorl with ovate chambers, the last ones often offset and twisted. Jurassic planktonic foraminifera, now known to consist of three genera and 12+ species underwent long periods of stasis, interrupted by late Bajocian, mid-Oxfordian and early Kimmeridgian evolution. The three ‘stasis and root’ taxa G. oxfordiana , G. bathoniana and G. balakhmat ovae are geographically widespread in lower to mid palaeo-latitudes, and stratigraphically long ranging within the Middle and Late Jurassic. Modern digital microscopes, with co-axial and side LED lighting and excellent image stacking software are important tools in the study of Jurassic planktonic foraminifera, and fast and cost-effective communication tools in modern micropalaeontology

The first 40 million years of planktonic foraminifera

We provide a biochronology of Jurassic planktonic foramininfera, using first order linkage to ammonite and nannofossil stratigraphy and geochronology. This enigmatic and understudied group of microfossils occurred from middle Toarcian through Tithonian time, from ~180 to ~143 Ma; its origin is unknown. There are three genera: Globuligerina, Conoglobigerina and Petaloglobigerina. The genus Globuligerina, with a smooth to pustulose test surface texture appeared in Toarcian (late Early Jurassic) and Conoglobigerina, with a rough reticulate test surface texture in Oxfordian (early Late Jurassic) time. The genus Petaloglobigerina, having a petaloid last whorl with one or more claviform and twisted chambers evolved in early Kimmeridgian time from Globuligerina balakhmatovae. Biochronologic events for Jurassic planktonic foraminifera are most like First Common Appearance or Last Common Appearance events. The very first or very last appearance levels of taxa are not easily sampled and detected. We recognize stratigraphic events from eleven species across four postulated evolutionary lineages, calibrated to Geologic Time Scale 2020. A faunal change, which is not well documented led to the survival of only one taxon, most likely Gobuligerina oxfordiana in the Tithonian

Berriasian planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils from Crimea Mountains, with reference to microfossil evolution

A Berriasian age planktonic foraminifera assemblage from a section near the village of Krasnoselivka in the Tonas River Basin, Crimea contains Favusella hoterivica (Subbotina), ?Favusella sp., Conoglobigerina gulekhensis (Gorbachik and Poroshina), Lilliputinella eocretacea (Neagu), Lilliputinella aff. similis (Longoria), Hedbergella aff. handousi Salaj and ? Globuligerina sp. Specimens are poorly preserved, but test morphology, aperture and key wall texture features are recognizable. Age assignment is based on a diverse and well-preserved calcareous nannofossils assemblage of upper zone CC2 and ammonites (Jacobi Zone). The nannfossils indicate an open marine environment of Tethyan affinity. Several of the planktonic foraminiferal taxa were not previously described from pre-Valanginian or Hauterivian strata. XRD analysis of the tests of benthic and planktonic foraminifera and micro-gastropods shows these to be calcitic in composition, also of those benthic and planktonic foraminifera that were deemed to be originally aragonitic in composition, indicating diagenetic changes in carbonate fractions. From detailed comparison to Jurassic planktonic foraminifera, two lineages are proposed from Late Jurassic into earliest Cretaceous: Globuligerina oxfordiana (Grigelis) to Favusella hoterivica (Subbotina) and Globuligerina balakhmatovae (Morozova) to Lilliputinella eocretacea (Neagu). The first lineage is a gradual change in wall sculpture from rugulose to reticulate and the second one a change to a lower spire, more ovate chambers of which the last one may be much larger in size and shift of the aperture out of the umbilicus. The meagre evolution of early planktonic foraminifera from Toarcian through Tithonian with only two genera and fewer than ten species does not follow the evolutionary diversity pattern of nannofossils and dinoflagellates. Tithonian appears to be a bottleneck for planktonic foraminifera, with a sparse record and virtual extinction. The so-called Globigerina oxfordiana from the Tithonian in ODP Site 901 on Galicia Bank (Collins et al. Proceeding Deep Sea Drilling Project Science Research 149:193–201, 1996) is of Miocene age

Advances in planktonic foraminifer research: New perspectives for paleoceanography

Planktonic foraminifer tests are major archives of environmental change and provide a multitude of proxies in paleoceanography and paleoclimatology. The application of such proxies is contingent upon a collaborative effort to better understand how the living organisms record the properties of their environment and how the resulting signals are recorded in marine sediments. In this contribution, we provide a review of the rapidly developing sub-fields of research, where new advances have been made possible by technological developments, and by cross-disciplinary work of the scientific community. Following brief historical overviews of the sub-fields, we discuss the latest advances in planktonic foraminifer research and highlight the resulting new perspectives in ocean and climate research. Natural classification based on consistent species concepts forms the basis for analysis of any foraminifer-derived proxy. New approaches in taxonomy and phylogeny of Cenozoic planktonic foraminifers (Section 2) are presented, highlighting new perspectives on sensitivity and response of planktonic foraminifers to the changing climate and environment (Section 4). Calibration of foraminifer-specific data and environmental parameters is improving along with the technical development of probes and the access to samples from the natural environment (Section 3), enhancing our understanding of the ever-changing climate and ocean system. Comprehension of sedimentation and flux dynamics facilitates maximum gain of information from fossil assemblages (Section 5). Subtle changes in the physical (e.g., temperature), chemical (e.g., pH), and biological (e.g., food) conditions of ambient seawater affect the abundance of species and composition of assemblages as well as the chemical composition of the foraminifer shell and provide increasingly-detailed proxy data on paleoenvironments (Section 6)