Towards a calibrated larger foraminifera biostratigraphic zonation: Celebrating 18 years of the application of shallow benthic zones

The Shallow Benthic Zonation is one of the most important achievements of biostratigraphy in the last twenty years. Here we summarize the state of the art in the field of Larger Benthic Foraminifera (LBF) and sketch the main lines of research that are improving the precision and usefulness of this scale. The goal of updating the zonation requires a wealth of data coming not only from biostratigraphic investigations but also from paleoenvironmental analyses, biological knowledge, rigorous taxonomic determination, and understanding of paleobiogeography. The papers collected for this special issue are contributions to this broad research program.