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During the Late Paleocene Thermal Maximum (LPTM) benthic foraminifera at middle bathyal and greater depths suffered extinction of 30—50% of species during a few thousand years. Extinction was less severe at neritic to upper bathyal depths, where temporary changes in faunal composition prevailed. Preextinction deep-sea faunas were cosmopolitan and diverse, and contained heavily calcified species. Immediate postextinction faunas were more variable geographically, exhibited low diversity, and were dominated by thin-walled calcareous or agglutinated taxa, possibly because CaCO3 dissolu~ tion increased globally from neritic to abyssal depths just before the extinction. These assemblages were dom~ inated either by long-lived taxa such as Nuttallia'es truempyi or by buliminid taxa, the latter accompanied by agglutinants in some areas.