This study represents an attempt to extract paleoclimatic data from the deep-sea record by analyzing foraminiferal shells individually. Using the oxygen (Δ 18O) and carbon (Δ 13C) isotopic composition of individual Orbulina universa and Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, we present an approach to reconstruct the Δ 18O of seawater (Δ 18Ow), the Δ 13C of &Sgr;CO2, and seasonal maximum sea surface temperatures (SST) in the western and eastern equatorial Atlantic. We examine the glacial and interglacial extremes of the last 150,000 years (isotope stages 1, 2, 5e, and 6). Comparison of recent water column hydrography with reconstructions from core top assemblages shows that O. universa and N. dutertrei Δ 18O and Δ 13C values accurately record hydrographic conditions in the mixed layer and upper thermocline at both sites. By analyzing shells individually, we can evaluate the effect of bioturbation on the range of Δ 18O and Δ 13C values in each interval and take it into consideration in our data interpretations. Downcore results show that N. dutertrei Δ 18O values in the western equatorial Atlantic reflect glacial to interglacial changes in Δ 18Ow due to continental ice formation (ΔΔ 18O=1.30?). We use changes in N. dutertrei Δ 18O values between core intervals to estimate the ice-volume effect in paleotemperature calculations for the mixed layer. To validate the use of O. universa for mixed layer reconstructions, we have added individual Globigerinoides sacculifer data for stages 1 and 2 at both sites. Paleotemperature reconstructions from O. universa Δ 18O values indicate that maximum seasonal mixed layer temperatures in the equatorial Atlantic decreased by at most 2.6 ¿C between isotope stages 1 and 2 and by no more than 3.4 ¿C between stages 1 and 6. Individual shell data from G. sacculifer yield similar results indicating that maximum O. universa Δ 18O values reflect the mixed layer environment. In agreement with Climate: Long-Range Investigation, Mapping, and Prediction (CLIMAP) <1981> SST reconstructions for stage 2, these data indicate little change between glacial and interglacial paleotemperatures in the equatorial Atlantic. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996