Average rating: | Rated 4.5 of 5. |
Level of importance: | Rated 5 of 5. |
Level of validity: | Rated 4 of 5. |
Level of completeness: | Rated 4 of 5. |
Level of comprehensibility: | Rated 4 of 5. |
Competing interests: | None |
I acknowledge the Editor to give me the opportunity to review the paper entitled "Global Evolution and Paleogeographic distribution of Mid - Cretaceous orbitolinids"
Overall, the paper is well written and interesting to read and I found it very informative. This work represents a comprehensive study on one of the taxonomically and morphologically complex groups of benthic marine microfauna in the ancient oceans. These fauna are of particular importance for Cretaceous biostratigraphy and paleogeography. Their biostratigraphically significance is important in petroleum explorations. However, the following comments and suggestions will improve the paper.
1- More references can be used to support statements in the text.
2- Are there references for figures 4, 7, 9 and 12?
3- I recommend including a list of the identified orbitolinid taxa (with their indicated biostratigraphy ranges) from Southern Tibetan Plateau and Barito Basin in the paper.
4- Analysis of new material and the re-analysis of the published data and also a general comparison between the orbitolinid taxa from your recent studies and those from other regions can be clearly explained or illustrated.
5- In the introduction section, more papers concerning with the Cretaceous orbitolinid-rich deposits of Iran can be cited. I recommend citing the following references:
Rahiminejad, A.H. & Hassani, M.J. 2016a. Paleoenvironmental distribution patterns of orbitolinids in the Lower Cretaceous deposits of eastern Rafsanjan, Central Iran. Marine Micropaleontology 122: 53-66.
Rahiminejad, A. H. & Hassani, M.J. 2016b. Depositional environment of the Upper Cretaceous orbitolinid– rich microfacies in the Kuh–e Mazar anticline (Kerman Province, Central Iran). Historical Biology 28 (5): 597-612.
Schlagintweit, F., Wilmsen, M., 2014. Orbitolinid Biostratigraphy of the Top Taft Formation (Lower Cretaceous of the Yazd Block, Central Iran). Cretaceous Research. 49, 125-133.
6- Figure5 caption: …………………from morphological Group…..
7- Figure7 caption: Do you mean middle Cretaceous?
8- Figure7 caption: If possible, please briefly mention the Groups that are illustrated in Figure 7.
9- Figure12: This figure represents a very good model of orbitolinid distribution in the Tethyan Cretaceous paleoenvironments. However, in the Tethys, Cretaceous orbitolinid-rich facies have also been reported from inner ramp shoals and lagoons (e.g., Rahiminejad and Hassani, 2016a, b). Discoidal orbitolinids were reported from non-pelagic micritic facies of middle lagoon environment. I think adding such details to the facies model can improve the paper. I recommend adding other details to Figure 12. Listing of taxa with different test morphologies in Figure 12 can be useful. I would suggest the authors to define similar facies model for the Cretaceous orbitolinid-rich deposits of the Western Pacific and the Americas, whenever possible.