Many late Paleozoic foraminifera consistently occur in particular rock types for which depths of deposition may be inferred. A few genera appear randomly in many different rock types and were possibly pelagic.

Textulariina: In the Ammodiscacea, most genera of Hippocrepininae (Astrorhizidae) and Ammodiscidae are widespread and

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common in dark gray shales, siltstones, fine to very fine sandstones, and silty, calcareous mudstones deposited in basinal, slope, and deeper shelf setting below effective wave base. In the Lituolacea, the Hormosinidae, Lituolidae, Textulariidae, Trochamminidae, and Ataxophragmiidae include only a few late Paleozoic genera, which locally are abundant in dark to medium gray, silty shales, siltstones, silty sandstones, and carbonate wackestones and packstones; all deposited near wave base.

Miliolina: Late Paleozoic representatives are primitive (tubular, nonseptate) genera of Hemigordiopsidae, Fischerinidae, and Nubeculariidae. These occur mainly in shallow, warm water calcareous wackestones.

Fusulinina: These were the most taxonomically diverse of the late Paleozoic foraminifera and were adapted to a wide range of depth habitats. Parathuramminacea locally were very abundant in deeper water, dark gray calcareous wackestones formed in basins and slopes below wave base. Endothyracea (s.l.) included many genera and families that dominated most of the Early Carboniferous shallow water, calcareous depositional environments. Nodosinellidae preferred open shelf facies and may have extended to depths below wave base. Colaniellidae, Ptychocladiidae, Paleotextulariidae, Tetrataxidae, Tournayellidae, Endothyridae, Loeblichiidae, and Lasiodiscidae locally were common in shallow shelf, shoal, and lagoonal carbonate wackestones, packstones, and as displaced fossils in some grainstones, uch as oolites. Bradyinidae were globose, had pseudoalveolar walls, and were widely scattered in a number of different lithologies suggesting a pelagic or planktonic habitat. Archaediscidae, which have recrystallized wall structure, were common in shallow water, carbonates and calcareous shales.

Fusulinacea, most of which probably had photosynthetic symbionts, were adapted to shallow carbonate depositional habitat at depths less than 15 to 20 m (49 to 66 ft). Carboniferous Fusulinidae and Ozawainellidae apparently occupied most of this depth range because of their adaptation to Middle Carboniferous cool surface waters. Permian Schubertellidae and Oazawainellidae became adapted to shallow, warm water lagoons and shelves. Verbeekinidae and Neoschwagerinidae were common in reef cores and upper flank deposits of Permian Tethyan reefs. Schwagerinidae also adapted to shallow to very shallow water carbonate environments, such as reef edges, shallow lagoons, tidal flat channels, margins of algal shoals and banks, and other shallow nearshore areas. For example, Eoparafusulina formed e tensive skeletal grainstones in many cross-bedded, subtidal deposits.

Several globose lineages within the Fusulinacea possibly were pelagic, such as Robustoschwagerina, Pseudoschwagerina, Verbeekina, and many of the Permian Staffellidae.

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