Changes

==Method==

==Method==

By observing modern foraminiferal populations and the distribution of modern species, paleontologists can predict (or extrapolate) the water depth ranges of their ancestors. This method, based on widespread studies of living forms, relies on the concept of ''taxonomic uniformitarianism'', which assumes most modern organisms have the same, or very similar, environmental restrictions as their fossil relatives.<ref name=ch17r32>Dodd, J. R., and R. J. Stanton, 1981, Paleoecology, concepts and applications: New York, John Wiley, 559 p.</ref> Most Pleistocene, Pliocene, and Miocene foraminiferal species either are still living or have very close living relatives in modern oceans. In practice, this evolutionary stability lets us accurately estimate paleobathymetry as far back as the middle Miocene (about 14.5 Ma). The accuracy of this method decreases with geologic age but is generally accepted to be broadly useful within the Cenozoic.

By observing modern foraminiferal populations and the distribution of modern species, paleontologists can predict (or extrapolate) the water depth ranges of their ancestors. This method, based on widespread studies of living forms, relies on the concept of ''taxonomic uniformitarianism'', which assumes most modern organisms have the same, or very similar, environmental restrictions as their fossil relatives.<ref name=ch17r32>Dodd, J. R., and R. J. Stanton, 1981, Paleoecology, concepts and applications: New York, John Wiley, 559 p.</ref> Most Pleistocene, Pliocene, and Miocene foraminiferal species either are still living or have very close living relatives in modern oceans. In practice, this evolutionary stability lets us accurately estimate paleobathymetry as far back as the middle Miocene (about 14.5 Ma). The accuracy of this method decreases with geologic age but is generally accepted to be broadly useful within the [[Cenozoic]].

==Limits on reliability of interpretation==

==Limits on reliability of interpretation==