Foraminiferal taxonomy

Collaborators: Alberto Albani (University of New South Wales, Sydney); Maria Holzmann and Jan Pawlowski (Geneva, Switzerland); Marty Buzas (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC); Chris Triggs (University of Auckland)

Accurate and consistent identification of species (taxonomy) is the basis of all our foraminiferal research. Globally the taxonomy of benthic foraminifera(especially shallow-water species) is rather shambolic, often with a numberof different names used for the same species in different regions. To understand patterns of benthic foraminiferal phylogeny, dispersal and global paleobiogeography requires global reviews of generic or family groups.

We have done this with the small family Bolivinellidae (see monograph below), and have started the process in the large family Elphidiidae (see SW Pacific monograph below), and the common shallow-water genus Ammonia (linked molecular (DNA) and morphological studies (with Maria Holzmann) indicate the presence of more than 30 living species of Ammonia globally - see reference below).

To promote the consistent identification of species in the South-west Pacific region, we have produced a Monograph that provides descriptions, keys and SEM illustrations of the 233 most common or distinctive shallow-water species from around New Zealand. In a collaborative project with Alberto Albani, these have been combined with data and pictures of living foraminifera from the east coast of Australia and placed on an interactive CD-ROM program that is fully searchable using formal taxonomic routes or morphological features (see below for availability).

Our recently published study on deep-sea benthic foraminifera from around New Zealand is a companion monograph to our 1999 shallow-water production.

Recent publications