Palaeoceanographic implications of genetic variation in living North Atlantic Neogloboquadrina pachyderma

The shells of the planktonic foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma have become a classical tool for reconstructing glacial-interglacial climate conditions in the North Atlantic Ocean(1-3). Palaeoceanographers utilize its left- and right-coiling variants, which exhibit a distinctive reciprocal temperature and water mass related shift in faunal abundance both at present and in late Quaternary sediments(1,2,4,5). Recently discovered cryptic genetic diversity in planktonic foraminifers(6-8) now poses significant questions for these studies. Here we report genetic evidence demonstrating that the apparent 'single species' shell-based records of right-coiling N. pachyderma used in palaeoceanographic reconstructions contain an alternation in species as environmental factors change. This is reflected in a species-dependent incremental shift in right-coiling N. pachyderma shell calcite delta(18)O between the Last Glacial Maximum and full Holocene conditions. Guided by the percentage dextral coiling ratio, our findings enhance the use of delta(18)O records of right-coiling N. pachyderma for future study. They also highlight the need to genetically investigate other important morphospecies to refine their accuracy and reliability as palaeoceanographic proxies.