Paleoecological and paleoenvironmental insights from Ornatorotaliidae (larger foraminifera)

The present study deals with the ecology and phylogenetic relationships among species of the genera Ornatorotalia, Granorotalia, and Risananeiza belonging to the Family Ornatorotaliidae. The microfacies analyses allowed us to assign each taxon to its life paleoenvironment within the shallow-water carbonate setting, and to make a comparison with extant species belonging to the family Calcarinidae. While different species of Ornatorotalia and Granorotalia thrived only in the inner ramp, Risananeiza spp. possibly inhabited also deeper environments up to the middle ramp. The phylogenetic relationships among genera and species are here briefly discussed, nonetheless it’s still impossible to identify any unambiguous ancestor of this group.