EOPARAFUSULINA Coogan, 1960

 

 

Type species: Fusulina gracilis Meek, 1864 (*2084), p. 4; OD.Parafusulina (Eoparafusulina) Coogan, 1960 (*678), p. 262. Eoparafusulina Skinner and Wilde, 1965 (*2997), p. 73 (nom. transl.).

Alaskanella Skinner and Wilde, 1966 (*2998), p. 57; type species: Alaskanella laudoni Skinner and Wilde, 1966; OD.

Test relatively small, up to 11 mm in length, subcylindrical to subglobular, small proloculus followed by up to eight closely coiled and gradually expanding volutions, upper part of septa nearly plane, lower part strongly fluted from pole to pole, the opposed folds of adja­cent septa joining to produce small chamberlets in the lower part, and resorption producing spiralling passages or cuniculi in the outer whorls; wall of tectum and keriotheca, low tunnel bordered by chomata that occur both on the proloculus and later chambers, either chomata or discontinuous septal thickenings or pseudochomata present in all but the outermost whorls, secondary deposits may occur at the tops of septal folds near the tunnel, and axial deposits present near the poles. L. Permian; USA: California, Texas.

 

Remarks: The original definition of Eoparafusulina was based on specimens identified as Fusulina gracilis Meek, one of which had been designated as a neotype by Thompson and Wheeler (in Thompson et al., 1946, *3195, p. 31). Skinner and Wilde (1965, *2997, p. 74) noted that this specimen had been misidentified and they described as the new species Eoparafusulina thompsoni the actual species stud­ied by Thompson and Wheeler and by Coogan. Skinner and Wilde also illustrated topotypes of the true Fusulina gracilis. A ruling by the ICZN (Op. 916, Melville and China, 1970, *2091, p. 39) then set aside the neotype desig­nation by Thompson and Wheeler and recog­nized the species gracilis Meek as based on the lectotype designated and illustrated by Wilson (1967, *3381, p. 234, pl. 1, figs. 4, 5) from the original syntypes in the collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.