pforams@mikrotax - Pulleniatina finalis

pforams@mikrotax - Pulleniatina finalis pforams@mikrotax - Pulleniatina finalis

Pulleniatina finalis

Classification: pf_cenozoic -> Globorotaliidae -> Pulleniatina -> Pulleniatina finalis
Sister taxa: P. finalis, P. obliquiloculata, P. praecursor, P. primalis ⟩⟨ P. spectabilis, P. praespectabilis, P. sp.

Taxonomy

Citation: Pulleniatina finalis Banner & Blow, 1967

Taxonomic rank: species

Basionym: Pulleniatina obliquiloculata finalis

Taxonomic discussion: Considered a synonym of P. obliquiloculata by Kennett & Srinivasan (1983) and Brummer & Kucera (2022) but a discrete species by Aze et al. (2011) and Wade et al. (2011). It is retained here since Wade et al. (2011) record it as a useful stratigraphic marker. See also Pearson & Penny (2021).

Catalog entries: Pulleniatina obliquiloculata finalis

Type images:

holotype: P. obliquiloculata finalis
holotype: P. obliquiloculata finalis

Distinguishing features:
Parent taxon (Pulleniatina): Compact streptospiral test with smooth cortical coating and large slit-like aperture
This taxon: Like P. obliquiloculata but more involute, aperture wider nearly symmetrical over the periphery and a pseudoplanispiral appearance in the last whorl, fewer chambers in final whorl (4 vs 4-5).

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:

Involute, planispiral with a very broadly rounded periphery
Aperture: Extra-umbilical high arch [Aze 2011, based on Bolli & Saunders 1985]. Aperture a broad arch extending across the equatorial periphery, often irregular with a crimped appearance; no lip but may have a thickened rim or hooded flange, fringed by irregular pustules [Pearson et al., 2025].

Emended description:

Nonspinose, porous and weakly cancellate wall, pustulose on the chamber shoulders around and within the aperture. Wall very thick. In the terminal stage, test covered in a translucent non-porous cortex with a smooth reflective surface that can be degraded by diagenesis to a dull glossy sheen. Large, inflated test, subspherical; strongly involute coiling, initially trochospiral, then streptospiral, becoming almost planispiral in last few chambers. Umbilicus indistinct. Three to five chambers in final whorl, increasing rapidly in size except for the final few chambers which may be flattened and reduced in size and internal volume; chambers appressed and embracing, sutures gently curving, weakly depressed to indistinct beneath the cortex. Aperture a broad arch extending across the equatorial periphery, often irregular with a crimped appearance; no lip but may have a thickened rim or hooded flange, fringed by irregular pustules. Coiling exclusively dextral in Recent but variable down-core. [Pearson et al. 2025]

Wall type:

Non-spinose; Smooth [Aze 2011]; Nonspinose, porous and weakly cancellate wall, pustulose on the chamber shoulders around and within the aperture [Pearson et al., 2025].

Character matrix
test outline: Subcircular chamber arrangement: Trochospiral edge view: Equally biconvex aperture: Umbilical-extraumbilical
sp chamber shape: Crescentic coiling axis: Low periphery: N/A aperture border: N/A
umb chbr shape: Subtriangular umbilicus: Narrow periph margin shape: Broadly rounded accessory apertures: None
spiral sutures: Flush umb depth: Shallow wall texture: Smooth shell porosity: Macroperforate: >2.5µm
umbilical or test sutures: Flush final-whorl chambers: 4-4 N.B. These characters are used for advanced search. N/A - not applicable

Biogeography and Palaeobiology

Geographic distribution

Low latitudes [Aze et al. 2011, based on This study]

[SCOR WG138]

Isotope paleobiology

Aze et al. 2011 ecogroup 3 - Open ocean thermocline. Based on comparison with other species of the genus

Most likely ancestor:
Pulleniatina obliquiloculata - at confidence level 1 (out of 5). Data source: P. finalis was considered to have evolved from or to be a variant of P. obliquiloculata by Banner & Blow (1967), Kennett & Srinivasan (1983), and Chaisson & Pearson (1997). Aze et al. (2011), however, record the probable ancestor as P. spectabilis but without citing any supporting evidence..

Biostratigraphic distribution

Geological Range:
Last occurrence (top): Non-extinct palaeontological taxon. Data source: Pearson & Penny 2021, Brummer & Kucera 2022: The morphotype occurs at the present day but is formed by the species T. obliquiloculata , so this taxon is not used by biologists
First occurrence (base): in upper part of PL6 [Atl.] zone (67% up, 2Ma, in Gelasian stage). Data source: Wade et al. (2011), additional event; position within zone determined by linear interpolation from data in table 1 of Wade et al. (2011).

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.
Grey shading between taxa indicates intergrading species within an anagenetic lineage (data from Lamyman et al. 2026).
(NB There is no histogram as there are no occurrence records for the taxon in the Neptune database) Parent: Pulleniatina

References:

Aze, T., et al. (2011). A phylogeny of Cenozoic macroperforate planktonic foraminifera from fossil data. Biological Reviews. 86: 900-927. gs

Banner, F. T. & Blow, W. H. (1967). The origin, evolution and taxonomy of the foraminiferal genus Pulleniatina Cushman, 1927. Micropaleontology. 13(2): 133-162. gs

Bolli, H. M. & Saunders, J. B. (1985). Oligocene to Holocene low latitude planktic foraminifera. In, Bolli, H. M., Saunders, J. B. & Perch-Neilsen, K. (eds) Plankton Stratigraphy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK 155-262. gs

Brummer, G-J. A. & Kucera, M. (2022). Taxonomic review of living planktonic foraminifera. Journal of Micropalaeontology. 41: 29-74. gs

Chaisson, W. P. & Pearson, P. N. (1997). Planktonic foraminifer biostratigraphy at Site 925: Middle Miocene–Pleistocene. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results. 154: 3-31. gs

Kennett, J. P. & Srinivasan, M. S. (1983). Neogene Planktonic Foraminifera. Hutchinson Ross Publishing Co., Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. 1-265. gs

Pearson, P. N. & Penny, L. (2021). Coiling directions in the planktonic foraminifer Pulleniatina: A complex eco-evolutionary dynamic spanning millions of years. PLoS One. 16: 360-. gs

Pearson, P. N., Fabbrini, A. & Wade, B. S. (2025). Systematic taxonomy of Pulleniatina. Journal of Foraminiferal Research. 55(3): 245-275. gs

Wade, B. S., Pearson, P. N., Berggren, W. A. & Pälike, H. (2011). Review and revision of Cenozoic tropical planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and calibration to the geomagnetic polarity and astronomical time scale. Earth-Science Reviews. 104: 111-142. gs

Pulleniatina finalis compiled by the pforams@mikrotax project team viewed: 15-7-2026

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Short stable page link: https://mikrotax.org/pforams/index.php?id=104205 Go to Archive.is to create a permanent copy of this page - citation notes

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test outline:	Subcircular	chamber arrangement:	Trochospiral	edge view:	Equally biconvex	aperture:	Umbilical-extraumbilical
sp chamber shape:	Crescentic	coiling axis:	Low	periphery:	N/A	aperture border:	N/A
umb chbr shape:	Subtriangular	umbilicus:	Narrow	periph margin shape:	Broadly rounded	accessory apertures:	None
spiral sutures:	Flush	umb depth:	Shallow	wall texture:	Smooth	shell porosity:	Macroperforate: >2.5µm
umbilical or test sutures:	Flush	final-whorl chambers:	4-4	N.B. These characters are used for advanced search. N/A - not applicable