Loftusia persica: an Eocene Lazarus occurrence?
A specimen of Loftusia persica Brady is described that contains as a part of its inner test a specimen of Turborotalia pomeroli (Toumarkine and Both), which is a very distinctive Middle to Late Eocene planktonic foraminifera. Although originally described as a "Tertiary" form, more recentl...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
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MICROPALEONTOLOGY PRESS
2009
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| Online Access: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/99078/1/99078_MS.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/99078/2/99078_Fig._1.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/99078/3/99078_Fig._2.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/99078/4/99078_Plate_1.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/99078/5/99078_Plate_2.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/99078/6/99078_Plate_3.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/99078/7/99078_Plate_4.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/99078/ |
| Summary: | A specimen of Loftusia persica Brady is described that contains as a part of its inner test a specimen of Turborotalia pomeroli (Toumarkine and Both), which is a very distinctive Middle to Late Eocene planktonic foraminifera. Although originally described as a "Tertiary" form, more recently Loftusia persica has been considered to be restricted to the Maastrichtian. A number of scenarios that could have led to the inclusion of an Eocene planktonic foraminifera deep within the test of a specimen of Loftusia are discussed, and it is concluded that the most probable interpretation is that Loftusia persica reappeared as a "Lazarus" species in the Eocene having survived the Cretaceous-Paleocene mass extinction, but was eventually driven to extinction by the orogeny that led to the formation of the Zagros Mountains. |
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