Hypothesis testing in paleontology: the Paleocene-Eocene larger foraminiferal record and eustatic sea level change.

The lower Paleogene larger foraminiferal record provides the means for verifying diversity and replacement patterns as controlled by extrinsic factors. Global sea level change and its sequence stratigraphic framework provide a scenario consistent with the main foraminiferal changes, under the most prevalent assumptions of ecology and continental-margin depositional record. Radiation and replacement patterns in larger Foraminifera are mostly correlated with sea-level lowstands, with notable exceptions at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary.