Diversity dynamics of marine planktonic diatoms across the Cenozoic

Daniel L. Rabosky () and Ulf Sorhannus
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Daniel L. Rabosky: Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
Ulf Sorhannus: Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, Pennsylvania 16444, USA

Nature, 2009, vol. 457, issue 7226, 183-186

Abstract: Diatoms kept off the grass Single-celled algae called diatoms constitute a vital part of the oceanic ecosystem. Utterly dependent on silica, diatoms are thought to have risen to prominence alongside grasslands, in the Miocene epoch, when the first large-scale weathering of grassland-derived silica took place. A new analysis of an ocean-bed database contradicts that scenario: Daniel Rabosky and Ulf Sorhannus show that diatom diversity peaked about 40 million years ago at the Eocene–Oligocene boundary, long before grasslands became prominent. Other explanations for the changing fortunes of diatoms must now be sought.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07435

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