Molecular versus taxonomic rates of evolution in planktonic foraminifera

Neogene planktonic foraminifera are among the most widely used microfossils in the study of tempo and mode of evolution. Comparisons of taxonomic rates between the two major clades in this group have shown that the nonspinose globorotaliids have undergone a significantly more rapid evolutionary turnover than the spinose globigerinids (S. M. Stanley et al., 1988, Paleobiology 14, 235-249). In order to test if similar fluctuations are observed in molecular data, we have used different methods to calculate absolute and relative rates of substitutions based on 16 partial SSU rDNA sequences from representatives of both groups. According to our data, rates of substitution are relatively constant within the globigerinids with a mean value of 4.3 subst./site/10(9) years, but vary in the globorotaliid clade with three species having a rate of about 1 subst./site/10(9) years and two species evolving much faster with rates of more than 7 subst./site/10(9) years. Assuming that the fast rates result from recent accelerations, the globorotaliids have basically much slower molecular evolutionary rates than the globigerinids, in opposition to the fossil data.