Globigerinagravelli Brönniman, 1952:12, pl. 1: figs. 16-18 [Zone P5, lower zone of Lizard Springs Fm., Guayaguayare area, South Trinidad].—Bolli, 1957:72, pl. 16: figs. 1-3 [Globorotaliaformosa Zone, upper Lizard Springs Fm., Trinidad].—Hornibrook, 1958:21, figs. 21, 25 [uppermost Paleocene, Waipawan Stage, New Zealand].
Globigerina dubia Egger var. lakiensis Haque, 1956:174, pl. 4: figs. 2a-c [uppermost Paleocene, Laki Gorge, Pakistan]. Globigerinamckannai White, 1928.—Berggren, 1960a:68, pl. 1: figs. 4a-c and pl. 9: fig. 3a-c [lower Eocene Zone P7, Clay Quarry at Hollbecker Berg, north-west Germany]; pl. 9: fig. 2a-c [lower Eocene Zone P7, Clay Quarry at Bessenbecker Berg , north-west Germany]; pl. 9: fig. 4a-c and pl. 10: fig. 1a-c, text-fig. 7 [lower Eocene Zone P7, Røsnaes Clay, Røgle Klint, Denmark]. [Not White, 1928.] Not Muricoglobigerinaesnehensis (Nakkady).—Pearson and others, 1993, pl. 1:fig. 20 [middle Eocene Zone P11-P12, DSDP Site 523, Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic Ocean] ( =Acarininapseudosubsphaerica n. sp.).
Taxonomic discussion: As the description above indicates, clear distinction between esnehensis and the related taxa mckannai, soldadoensis and gravelli is difficult to achieve. Loeblich and Tappan (1957) expressed the view that esnehensis and gravelli are synonymous and junior synonyms of mckannai. As the result of a comparative examination of type material of these taxa at the British Museum (Natural History), London and the U .S. National Museum, Washington, Blow (1979, p. 1127-1128) agreed with the former view but distinguished esnehensis from mckannai on the basis of the following characters observable in mckannai: 1) much tighter coiling mode; 2) more “globigerine” initial coil; 3) posteriorly recurved (versus consistently radial) and more clearly incised dorsal intercameral sutures; 4) ventral intercameral sutures recurved on earlier part of last whorl to sinuous in the later part of the last whorl in addition to distinctly different stratigraphic ranges. At the same time Blow (1979, p. 1129) was obviously at pains to distinguish consistently between esnehensis and soldadoensis, concluding that in view of the long stratigraphic persistence of transitional forms over the biostratigraphic interval of his Zone P5 (mid-part) to Zone P8b “Muricoglobigerinaesnehensis (= M. gravelli) is little more than an environmentally induced ecophenotype of a basic soldadoensis genotype”. Nevertheless, he distinguished the two forms as separate species as do we here based on the set of distinguishing characters described above. [Berggren et al. 2006]
Distinguishing features: Parent taxon (Acarinina): Moderate to low trochospire; chambers ovoid, usually 4-6 in final whorl. Wall muricate with pustules on umbilical shoulders; This taxon: Like A. soldadoensis but with more (5-7 vs 4) of globular (vs tangentially elongate) chambers in final whorl; straighter, radial sutures on both sides of the (generally higher spired) test and a larger, deeper umbilicus.
NB These concise distinguishing features statements are used in the tables of daughter-taxa to act as quick summaries of the differences between e.g. species of one genus. They are being edited as the site is developed and comments on them are especially welcome.
Description
Diagnostic characters: This taxon is characterized by a muricate test of 5-6 (rarely 7) chambers arranged in a relatively loose (lax) coil resulting in an open and deep umbilicus, and moderate to strong lateral chamber compression (giving a subangulate appearance to the peripheral margin of some chambers). Muricae are well developed on the umbilical side but only weakly expressed (blunted) on the spiral side, the test being strongly cancellate. A small, weakly muricate chamber usually caps/bridges the junction between the first and last chambers of the final whorl and on the spiral side a smooth, virtually imperforate band (which appears to be a consistent distinguishing characteristic of this taxon) runs along the lower part of this diminutive chamber. This taxon is distinguished from Acarininasoldadoensis by having a greater number (5-7 vs 4) of globular (as opposed to tangentially elongate) chambers in the final whorl, straighter, radial sutures on both sides of the (generally higher spired) test and a larger, deeper umbilicus. [Berggren et al. 2006] Morphology: Low- to moderately high spired trochoid test; 5 (ranging up to 7) inflated chambers in last whorl, umbilicus open, deep and generally relatively wide; aperture low slit extending along margin of last chamber towards, but not reaching, periphery; no circumumbical muricate rim; sutures incised, radial to only slightly curved on umbilical and spiral sides of test; rounded margin(s) in edge view. [Berggren et al. 2006] Wall type:
Soldan et al 2014 f08-c.JPG
Muricate, with strong concentration of muricae around umbilicus. [Berggren et al. 2006] Size: Relatively large (to 0.5 mm maximum diameter); maximum diameter of holotype: 0.4 mm; thickness: 0.3 mm (Nakkady, 1950, p. 689). [Berggren et al. 2006]
Character matrix
test outline:
Lobate
chamber arrangement:
Trochospiral
edge view:
Equally biconvex
aperture:
Umbilical
sp chamber shape:
Inflated
coiling axis:
Moderate
periphery:
N/A
aperture border:
N/A
umb chbr shape:
Inflated
umbilicus:
Wide
periph margin shape:
Moderately rounded
accessory apertures:
None
spiral sutures:
Moderately depressed
umb depth:
Deep
wall texture:
Moderately muricate
shell porosity:
Macroperforate: >2.5µm
umbilical or test sutures:
Strongly depressed
final-whorl chambers:
5-7
N.B. These characters are used for advanced search. N/A - not applicable
Biogeography and Palaeobiology
Geographic distributionWidespread from (sub)tropical areas (Caribbean, New Jersey, Egypt) to austral (Hornibroook, 1958) and boreal (Berggren, 1960a) regions. Probably lumped with A. soldadoensis in some studies and thus an understanding of its real distribution remains muted. [Berggren et al. 2006]
Aze et al. 2011 summary: Low to high latitudes; based on Berggren et al. (2006b) Isotope paleobiologyNo data available [Berggren et al. 2006] Aze et al. 2011 ecogroup 1 - Open ocean mixed-layer tropical/subtropical, with symbionts; based on comparison with other species of the genus. Phylogenetic relationsAcarininaesnehensis probably evolved from A. soldadoensis in (lower) Zone P5. [Berggren et al. 2006]
Geological Range: Notes: Zones P5 to Zone E6; particularly common in Zone E1 in association with the PETM excursion fauna in the Bass River section of coastal New Jersey and Egypt. [Berggren et al. 2006] Last occurrence (top): within E6 zone (50.20-50.67Ma, top in Ypresian stage). Data source: Eocene Atlas First occurrence (base): within P5 zone (55.96-57.10Ma, base in Thanetian stage). Data source: Eocene Atlas
Plot of occurrence data:
Range-bar - range as quoted above, pink interval top occurs in, green interval base occurs in.
Triangles indicate an event for which a precise placement has been suggested
(NB There is no histogram as there are no occurrence records for the taxon in the Neptune database) Parent: Acarinina
Primary source for this page: Berggren et al. 2006 - Eocene Atlas, chap. 9, p. 289
References:
Berggren, W. A. (1960). Some planktonic foraminifera from the Lower Eocene (Ypresian) of Denmark and northwestern Germany. Stockholm Contributions in Geology. 5: 41-108. gs
Berggren, W. A., Pearson, P. N., Huber, B. T. & Wade, B. S. (2006b). Taxonomy, biostratigraphy, and phylogeny of Eocene Acarinina. In, Pearson, P. N., Olsson, R. K., Hemleben, C., Huber, B. T. & Berggren, W. A. (eds) Atlas of Eocene Planktonic Foraminifera. Cushman Foundation for Foraminiferal Research, Special Publication . 41(Chap 9): 257-326. gsO
Blow, W. H. (1979). The Cainozoic Globigerinida: A study of the morphology, taxonomy, evolutionary relationships and stratigraphical distribution of some Globigerinida (mainly Globigerinacea). E. J. Brill, Leiden. 2: 1-1413. gs
Bolli, H. M. (1957d). The genera Globigerina and Globorotalia in the Paleocene-Lower Eocene Lizard Springs Formation of Trinidad. In, Loeblich, A. R. , Jr., Tappan, H., Beckmann, J. P., Bolli, H. M., Montanaro Gallitelli, E. & Troelsen, J. C. (eds) Studies in Foraminifera. U.S. National Museum Bulletin . 215: 61-82. gs
Brönnimann, P. (1952d). Trinidad Paleocene and lower Eocene Globigerinidae. Bulletins of American Paleontology. 34(143): 1-34. gs
Haque, A. F. M. M. (1956). The smaller foraminifera of the Ranikot and the Laki of the Nammal gorge, Salt Range. Memoir of the Pakistan Geological Survey. 1: 1-300. gs
Hornibrook, N. d. B. (1958). New Zealand Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary foraminiferal zones and some overseas correlations. Micropaleontology. 4: 25-38. gs
Loeblich, A. R. & Tappan, H. (1957b). Planktonic foraminifera of Paleocene and early Eocene Age from the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains. In, Loeblich, A. R. , Jr., Tappan, H., Beckmann, J. P., Bolli, H. M., Montanaro Gallitelli, E. & Troelsen, J. C. (eds) Studies in Foraminifera. U.S. National Museum Bulletin . 215: 173-198. gs
Nakkady, S. E. (1950). A new foraminiferal fauna from the Esna shales and Upper Cretaceous chalk of Egypt. Journal of Paleontology. 24(6): 675-692. gs
Pearson, P. N., Shackleton, N. J. & Hall, M. A. (1993). Stable isotope paleoecology of middle Eocene planktonic foraminifera and multi-species isotope stratigraphy, DSDP Site 523, South Atlantic. Journal of Foraminiferal Research. 23: 123-140. gs
Postuma, J. A. (1971). Manual of planktonic foraminifera. Elsevier for Shell Group, The Hague. 1-406. gs
Soldan, D. M., Petrizzo, M. R. & Silva, I. P. (2014). Pearsonites, a new Paleogene planktonic foraminiferal genus for the broedermanni lineage. Journal of Foraminiferal Research. 44: 17-27. gs
White, M. P. (1928). Some Index Foraminifera of the Tampico Embayment Area of Mexico. Journal of Paleontology. 2(3): 177-215. gs
Acarinina esnehensis compiled by the pforams@mikrotax project teamviewed: 11-5-2026
Eocene_Atlas_pl09-12_fig1-4.jpg
Eocene_Atlas_pl09-12_fig5-8.jpg
Eocene_Atlas_pl09-12_fig5-8A.jpg
Eocene_Atlas_pl09-12_fig9-12.jpg
Eocene_Atlas_pl09-12_fig9-12A.jpg
Eocene_Atlas_pl09-12_fig13-16.jpg
Eocene_Atlas_pl09-12_fig13-16A.jpg
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Postuma 1971 p151-7.JPG
holotype: G. cretacea esnehensis
Soldan et al 2014 f08-c.JPG
