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Morphogenesis, Environmental Stress and Reverse Evolution pp 111–127Cite as

Extreme Morphological Plasticity Within Orbulina-“Praeorbulina-Like” Assemblages Related to Environmental Stress

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Abstract

Planktic foraminifera, unicellular microzooplankton with a calcitic shell, have produced an exceptional fossil record, revealing an invaluable archive of biodiversity, morphological and evolutionary changes.

The evolutionary lineage starting from Trilobatus Spezzaferri 2015 (= “Globigerinoides”) culminating in Orbulina universa d’Orbigny 1839 is a fascinating example of peramorphic spherisation lineage (increasing involution, coupled with increasing shell curvature).

This chapter focuses on the extreme morphological variability observed in the Orbulina group in some horizons from Chélif Basin in Algeria, just preceding the well-known Messinian (Late Miocene) salinity crisis in the Mediterranean basin. Surprisingly, in such horizons, spherical Orbulina universa lineage end-member specimens coexist with ancestor-like morphotypes, such as Orbulina suturalis Brönnimann 1951 and the supposed extinct Praeorbulina Olsson 1964, as well as with malformed specimens. Many authors considered in fact that Praeorbulina last occurred within the Langhian stage in the Middle Miocene.

A similar recovery of individuals which show an intergradation between a typical Orbulina morphology and morphologies close to the ancestors Orbulina suturalis and Praeorbulina was also reported in Last Glacial Maximum sediments from the northern Arabian Sea. In this Late Pleistocene case, AMS 14C data showed clearly unreworked character of this “Praeorbulina-like” populations.

We discuss the possible link between this extreme morphological plasticity of Orbulina group in specific time horizons and possible stress conditions of the water column.

Keywords

  • Planktic foraminifera
  • Morphological plasticity
  • Reverse evolution
  • Environmental stress

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Paléontologie Stratigraphique et Paléoenvironnements, Université d’Oran 2 Mohamed Ben Ahmed, Oran, Algeria

    Ahmed Belhadji & Lahcène Belkebir

  2. Centre de recherche en paléontologie—Paris, UMR 7207, CNRS-MNHN-SU, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CP38, Paris, France

    Annachiara Bartolini

  3. Laboratoire Environnement et Paléoenvironnement Océaniques et Continentaux UMR CNRS 5805, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France

    Linda Rossignol

  4. Geopolis—University, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jean Guex

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  1. Ahmed Belhadji
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  2. Annachiara Bartolini
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  3. Linda Rossignol
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  4. Lahcène Belkebir
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  5. Jean Guex
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Correspondence to Annachiara Bartolini .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Earth Sciences, Geopolis, UNIL, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Dr. Jean Guex

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Evolutionary Medicine Program, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Dr. John S. Torday

  3. Department of Medicine, Banner Health System, Paradise Valley, AZ, USA

    MD William B. Miller Jr.

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Belhadji, A., Bartolini, A., Rossignol, L., Belkebir, L., Guex, J. (2020). Extreme Morphological Plasticity Within Orbulina-“Praeorbulina-Like” Assemblages Related to Environmental Stress. In: Guex, J., S. Torday, J., Miller Jr., W. (eds) Morphogenesis, Environmental Stress and Reverse Evolution. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47279-5_7

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