Evolutionary classification of the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian–lower Campanian) planktic foraminifera with incipient meridional ornamentation
Keywords: planktic foraminifera, taxonomy, Upper Cretaceous, evolutionary classification, Fingeria – new genus
Abstract. A new genus, Fingeria, is recognized among the globular-chambered trochospiral planktic foraminifera of the Upper Cretaceous (upper Cenomanian–lower Campanian). It consists of two pre-existing species: F. loetterlei (Nauss, 1947) and F. kingi (Trujillo, 1960). The ornamentation consists of scattered pustules, which can often fuse to form rugosities and, occasionally, costellae, especially over the earlier chambers of the test. Meridional ornamentation pattern is occasionally developed over isolated chambers. Fingeria is the only lineage of the whiteinellid stock that exhibits ornamentation coarsening and preferential orientation, which can be meridional or parallel to the periphery.