Biogeographic response of marine plankton to Cenozoic environmental changes

Anshuman Swain (), Adam Woodhouse, William F. Fagan, Andrew J. Fraass and Christopher M. Lowery
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Anshuman Swain: Harvard University
Adam Woodhouse: University of Texas at Austin
William F. Fagan: University of Maryland
Andrew J. Fraass: University of Victoria
Christopher M. Lowery: University of Texas at Austin

Nature, 2024, vol. 629, issue 8012, 616-623

Abstract: Abstract In palaeontological studies, groups with consistent ecological and morphological traits across a clade’s history (functional groups)1 afford different perspectives on biodiversity dynamics than do species and genera2,3, which are evolutionarily ephemeral. Here we analyse Triton, a global dataset of Cenozoic macroperforate planktonic foraminiferal occurrences4, to contextualize changes in latitudinal equitability gradients1, functional diversity, palaeolatitudinal specialization and community equitability. We identify: global morphological communities becoming less specialized preceding the richness increase after the Cretaceous–Palaeogene extinction; ecological specialization during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum, suggesting inhibitive equatorial temperatures during the peak of the Cenozoic hothouse; increased specialization due to circulation changes across the Eocene–Oligocene transition, preceding the loss of morphological diversity; changes in morphological specialization and richness about 19 million years ago, coeval with pelagic shark extinctions5; delayed onset of changing functional group richness and specialization between hemispheres during the mid-Miocene plankton diversification. The detailed nature of the Triton dataset permits a unique spatiotemporal view of Cenozoic pelagic macroevolution, in which global biogeographic responses of functional communities and richness are decoupled during Cenozoic climate events. The global response of functional groups to similar abiotic selection pressures may depend on the background climatic state (greenhouse or icehouse) to which a group is adapted.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07337-9

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