Comment to Sarkar S. (2019) “Does specialization imply rare fossil records of some benthic foraminifera: Late Palaeocene examples from the eastern Neo-Tethys (Meghalaya, NE India)”, Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 514 (2019) 124–134

Reliable systematic identification is a basic premise for paleobiogeographic and paleoecologic analysis. The links between taxonomy and paleobiogeography and paleoecology are evidenced by the necessity to build up ‘objective’ data sets before any analysis in these fields. Reliable taxonomical identifications are only possible by carefully observing the morphology in various diagnostic sections of LBF tests. Routine thin section studies may lead to dramatically incorrect evaluations in the case of non-diagnostic sections of specimens. Furthermore, identification requires specific knowledge and background. In addition to taxa misidentification, another major issue is the lack of a detailed facies analysis, the distribution of foraminifera in these facies units, and their vertical distribution. Without solving all these issues, the interpretations put forward in Sarkar (2019) are mere speculations.