Abstract. The integrated use of calcareous nannofossil and dinoflagellate cyst events in a study of the late Pliensbachian–early Toarcian interval in central Italy has yielded a high resolution biostratigraphy. The use of both the first and last occurrences of selected taxa belonging to the two phytoplankton groups allows the dating of the sediments with a very refined detail, even when lithologies are unfavourable to the preservation of one fossil group. The evolutionary history of calcareous nannofossils and dinoflagellate cysts during the early Jurassic and its links with global events are responsible for the high potential of this integrated biostratigraphy.