Late Jurassic foraminiferans, please help with ID

[D.N.FossilmanLithuania]

Dear Guys,

I recently collected many skeletons of foraminiferans (sarcodine protozoans) in glauconite spongiolite erratics that I think are Kimmeridgian (Late Jurassic) age and I very need your ideas!

Many fossils consist of lagenids, small rotaliids, textulariids and etc. I am sure these forms are almost all benthic. 

In the same erratics I found sea urchin spines, sponges, worm tracks and especially mollusc/ vertebrate fauna.

The skeletons are from 0,3 mm diameter to 15 mm length, very various.  

Please share your ideas about identification here or recommend a specialist who works on these small and interesting organisms. 

Any help will be appreciated!   

 

Kind Regards

Domas

[Tidgy's Dad]

Beautiful creatures.

Though I have no idea as to id whatsoever! 

[GeschWhat]

These are amazing little creatures. I was looking through the images on the World Foraminifera Database to try to identify some of mine the other day. Perhaps you will find yours there. 

[Kane]

And, to add another resource: http://www.foraminifera.eu/

[D.N.FossilmanLithuania]

Thank you, I will look at these pages you recommend.  

I have used foraminifera.eu and I have also heard about world foraminifera database. 

Till now the big forms of foraminiferans were not found in our erratics, and Kimmeridgian is determined only in 1910 near Klaipeda  

 

Best Regards

Domas

[ynot]

Wonderful fossils and pictures.

Good luck with the search for IDs.

[abyssunder]

Try contacting Michael Hesemann (Foram-Mike, our member) via PM. I'm sure he can help you.

[ynot]

@Foram-Mike

[doushantuo]

I THINK i see a Everticyclammina, and something akin to e.g. Planulina,Citharina,Marginulinopsis.

Some Lenticulina may be present as well(Yes,I realize these are SEM pix)

[D.N.FossilmanLithuania]

Dear doushantuo, the pictures in figure looks very similar!  abyssunder thank you very much for the contact, I am going to write a message!

 

Best Regards

Domas

[Foram-Mike]

Reply on the email to Domas:

 

Dear Domas,

 

congratulation for your interesting finds.

Unfortunately we are not much familiar with ID of species from cross-sections. Important parts like the aperture and surface structures are not visible. You can't turn the foram. So there is a lot of guessing involved, which we do not like. So I can't tell you, whether a rare species is in it, at least I can't see a rare genus.

 

I do agree to your genus Identifications, besides of lenticulina2 and Textularia. Do you see the agglutinated wall structure ? If not it might be also a Bolivina or other biserial calcareous genus. Unidentified 3 and 6 look for me pretty much like planktonic foraminifera. Given the preservation, size of forams, genus mix and the planktonics my impression is, that the material is much younger, my impression is Eocene or Oligocene.

 

As you have not only a single foram, but a little assemblage - look for more ! - I think, it should be possible to find a similar assemblage in the literature on stratified material. E.g. we are working at the moment on very stiff glacial erratics of the Eocene with a more or less similar mix of forams: www.foraminifera.eu/loc.php?locality=Luebeck

You should count how many forams of each type are there, which would make the fingerprint of the assemblage more pronounced.

thats it for the moment

Michael

-- 
Michael Hesemann
Foraminifera.eu Project
Hamburg, Germany
www.foraminifera.eu