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 100 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

Hayward, B.W., Holzmann, M., Pawlowski, J., Parker, J.H., Kaushik, T., Toyofuku, M.S., Tsuchiya, M., 2021. Molecular and morphological taxonomy of living Ammonia and related taxa (Foraminifera) and their biogeography. Micropaleontology 67, 109-313.

Hayward, B.W., Le Coze, F., Vanderpitte, L., Vanhoorne, B., 2020. Foraminifera in the World Register of Foraminifera (WoRMS) taxonomic database. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 50, 291-300.

Hayward, B.W., Tendal, O.S., Carter, R., Grenfell, H.R., Morgans, H.E.G., Scott, G.H., Strong, C.P., and Hayward, J.J., 2012. Phylum Foraminifera. Foraminifera and Xenophyophores, in Gordon, D.P., ed., New Zealand Inventory of biodiversity: A Species 2000 Symposium Review: Christchurch, Canterbury University Press,p. 242-287.

Hayward, B.W.; Grenfell, H.R.; Sabaa A.T.; Neil, H.L. and Buzas, M.A. 2010: Recent New Zealand deep-water benthic foraminifera: Taxonomy, ecologic distinction, biogeography, and use in paleoenvironmental assessment. GNS Science monograph 26. 363p. Lower Hutt, New Zealand.[Copies can be purchased for our subsidised price of NZ$40 (plus package and postage) from the Publications Officer, GNS Science, PO Box 30 368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand; Email: sales@gns.cri.nz]

Hayward, B.W.; Holzmann, M.; Grenfell, H.R.; Pawlowski, J.; Triggs, C.M. 2004: Morphological distinction of molecular types in Ammonia - towards a taxonomic revision of the world's most commonly misidentified foraminifera. Marine Micropaleontology 50: 237-271.

Hayward, B.W.; Buzas, M.A.; Buzas-Stephens, P.; Holzmann, M. 2003. The lost types of Rotalia beccarii var. tepida Cushman, 1926. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 33: 352-354.

Albani, A.; Hayward, B.W.; Grenfell, H.R. 2001: Taxomorph: Foraminifera from the South-west Pacific. An inter-active catalogue. University of New South Wales and Australian Biological Resources Study CD-ROM. [Copies can be purchased for the subsidised price of Aust$30 (includes package and postage) from Dr A. Albani, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Email: a.albani@unsw.edu.au or order on www.unisearch.com.au]

Hayward, B.W.; Grenfell, H.R.; Reid, C.M.; Hayward, K.A. 1999: Recent New Zealand shallow-water benthic foraminifera: Taxonomy, ecologic distribution, biogeography, and use in paleoenvironmental assessment., Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Monograph 21. 258 p. [Copies can be purchased for our subsidised price of NZ$30 (plus package and postage) from the Publications Officer, GNS Science, PO Box 30 368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand; Email: sales@gns.cri.nz]

Hayward, B.W.; Hollis, C.J.; Grenfell, H.R. 1997: Recent Elphidiidae (Foraminiferida) of the South-west Pacific and fossil Elphidiidae of New Zealand. New Zealand Geological Survey Paleontological Bulletin 72. 166 p. [Copies can be purchased for NZ$50 (plus package and postage) from the Publications Officer, GNS Sciences, PO Box 30 368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand; Email: sales@gns.cri.nz]

Hayward B.W. 1990: Taxonomy, paleogeography and evolutionary history of the Bolivinellidae (Foraminiferida). New Zealand Paleontological Bulletin 63, 132p. [Copies can be purchased for NZ$50 (plus package and postage) from the Publications Officer, GNS Science, PO Box 30 368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand; Email: sales@gns.cri.nz]