Phyletic evolution in theGloborotalia crassaformis(Galloway and Wissler) lineage: a preliminary report

Abstract

A preliminary report is presented documenting the evolution of the Globorotalia crassaformis (Galloway and Wissler) lineage from the Early Pliocene G. cibaoensis (Bermudez) in Hydraulic Piston Core 72/516 on the Rio Grande Rise (western South Atlantic). A new technique, eigenshape analysis, is used to describe the gross changes in morphology, and the use of “Raupian” analysis of expansion rates, angular displacement, position relative to coiling axis, and translation rates of chambers is suggested as a useful vehicle for inferring the geometric causes of observed evolutionary changes. These changes include size increase, decrease in the number of chambers per whorl, inflation, reduction of relative height of aperture, and increase in the peripheral angle. The sequence is judged to be an example of phyletic gradualism.