Catalog - Elhasaella

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Elhasaella

Type species: Elhasaella alanwoodi Hamam 1976

Test medium to large, initial part planispiral with almost non-porous lateral sides and highly porous truncated periphery, followed successively by tri- and biserial stages, occasionally with last stage uniserial, chambers inflated and highly perforate, aperture terminal with lip and imperforate cover plate, on short or moderate neck.

Remarks: The genoholotype is found to range from the top of the Middle Maastrichtian Globotruncana gansseri Zone to the top of the Upper Maastrichtian Globotruncana esnehensis Zone. It apparently becomes completely extinct at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. The lower limit of its range and its first appearance are not yet known.

It is believed that the new genus is adapted to the planktic type of life as it shows many of the characteristic features of planktic foraminifera: Test calcareous, highly perforated with a pattern and distribution of pores comparable to planktic foraminiferal species; initial part planispiral becoming triserial followed by biserial and uniserial arrangement and with non-coiled final part (Family Heterohelicidae Cushman) ; chambers highly inflated to subglobular-globular; aperture terminal on neck with lip (Genus Bifarina Parker and Jones has a terminal aperture); aperture in well preserved individuals demonstrating the presence of an imperforate cover plate-like structure with intralaminal crescentic secondary opening, comparable to the tegillum and secondary intralaminal apertures; development of fine elongate spines to support the frothy areolated ectoplasm, giving hispid to hirsute surface texture. The present new genus is also associated with a very rich planktic foraminiferal assemblage of the Middle and Upper Maastrichtian, kindly see under the genoholotype description.

According to Loeblich & Tappan (1987) this genus belongs in the Eouvigerinidae and so is presumably benthic. See also world foraminifera database

References:

Hamam, K. A. (1976). Elhasaella, a new planktic foraminifer from the Maastrichtian of Jordan. Revista Española de Micropaleontología. 8(3): 453-458. gs

Loeblich, A. R. & Tappan, H. (1987). Foraminiferal Genera and their Classification. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York.. 1-970. gs

CATALOG OF ORIGINAL DESCRIPTIONS: Elhasaella Hamam 1976

Elhasaella

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