Journal
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
Volume 284, Issue 1-2, Pages 39-46Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.08.026
Keywords
Planktonic foraminifera; Dwarfing; Cenozoic; Extinction; Lilliput Effect; Size
Funding
- English Speaking Union
- Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP)
- Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)
- U.S. National Science Foundation
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We propose a phenomenon termed pre-extinction dwarfing in Cenozoic planktonic foraminifera. High-resolution morphometric analysis shows a reduction in maximum or mean test size in the 2-20 kyr interval preceding the extinction of Pliocene Globorotalia exilis and Globorotalia miocenica from the Caribbean Sea and middle Eocene Morozovelloides crassatus from the western North Atlantic. Through a series of case studies and review of qualitative observations from the literature, we suggest that dwarfing occurs in a number of species of planktonic foraminifera foreshadowing their demise and that such size changes are not just a phenomenon associated with mass extinction events. We propose that this is a common stress-induced pattern that results in diminutive size in the pre-extinction interval. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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