Thanks to our Italian contributors we are now able to work on Paleogene, Neogene and Pleistocene benthic foraminifera from Italy. In 1982 the Italian oil company Agip S.p.A. published its reknown atlas "Foraminiferi Padani": Agip, S.p.A., 1982. Foraminiferi Padani (Terziario e Quaternario): Atlante iconografico e distribuzione stratigrafica. Second edition. Agip, Milan, Italy. We want to update its identifications and show new and hopefully better images.

We thank Dr. Giulia Barbieri, Prof. Dr. Fabrizio Frontalini, Helmut Krock and Paolo Petracci for providing samples, Prof. Dr. Michael A. Kaminski giving permission for the usage of SEM images and Dieter Ketelsen and Cai-Uso Wohler for photographing specimens.

Dr. Cesare Brizio, Bologna and Michael Hesemann, Hamburg.