Renewal of planktonic foraminifera diversity after the Cretaceous Paleogene mass extinction by benthic colonizers

Abstract

Planktonic foraminifera are key to understanding paleoclimate and plankton evolution, but their origins are unclear. Here, the authors use a molecular clock to suggest that benthic foraminifera dispersed in plankton and renew planktonic foraminifera diversity after the Cretaceous Paleogene mass extinction.