Suppiluliumaella Elliott, 1968

Bucur, Ioan I., Polavder, Svetlana & Radoičić, Rajka, 2014, Lower Cretaceous Calcareous Algae And Foraminifera From Trbušnica (Vardar Zone, Serbia), Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae 10 (1 - 2), pp. 1-2 : 99-102

Genus Suppiluliumaella Elliott, 1968

Suppiluliumaella gr. polyreme Elliott, 1968

( Fig. 6 f, h )

The specimens identified in the Trbušnica samples are present in transversal-slightly oblique sections. The primary laterals are originally tubular but then they broaden distally, giving rise to 4-6 secondary laterals directly connected to the distal part of the primary laterals, without constrictions (like the fingers of a glove). Dimensions (mm): D = 1.20-2.10; d = 0.80-0.95; l = 0.30-0.65; p’ (distal) = 0.15-0.20; l’ = 0.15-0.20.

Remarks. Bakalova (1971) has described two new species of Suppiluliumaella : S. praebalcanica and S. elliotti . The difference between the first and S. polyreme is represented by the presence of third order laterals, a feature that still needs to be documented. S. elliotti differs from S. polyreme …”par l’absence de parois autour de la cellule axiale” [while it shows no wall around the axial cell] ( Bakalova, 1971: 125). Table A (in Bakalova, 1971) summarizing the size differences recorded for the three species ( S. polyreme , S. praebalcanica and S. elliotti ) shows little discrimination, being mainly a proof for some dimensional overlaps. Some of the apparent differences may be the result of different sectioning angles: most of the specimens described by Bakalova (1971) are present in oblique and transverse sections, in which the inclination of the primary laterals, their length, the length of the secondary laterals etc. are more difficult to evaluate. One cannot exclude that the two species identified by Bakalova (1971) are recent synonyms for the species S. polyreme . More samples, including topotype material, need to be studied in order to confirm this assumption.

Dimensions (mm): D = 2.10-2.10; d = 0.80-0.95; l = 0.35-0.65; l’ = 0.15-0.20; p (distal) = 0.15-0.20; p’ = 0.05-0.07; w = 18-20.

? Suppiluliumaella ( Fig. 6 g, j, k ) Present as fragments of relatively large thallus with ovoidal to ovoidal-elongated-cylindrical primary laterals that are approximately perpendicular to the axial cavity to which they are connected through a short peduncle, and with Suppiluliumaella - type secondary laterals.

Dimensions (mm): D = 1.80-2.50; d = 0.60-0.80; p (maximum) = 0.30; l = 0.55; p’ = 0.08-0.10; l’ = 0.20; h = 0.10-0.12.

Remarks. Similar specimens were identified in Upper Barremian – basal Aptian limestones from Bicaz Gorge (Eastern Carpathians, Romania) ( Bucur & Săsăran, 2011: 60-61, Plates 10-11). In spite of the similitude of the laterals' morphology between this form and genus Dissocladella , the authors ( Bucur & Săsăran, 2011) have considered that they represent sections through the lower part of the Suppiluliumaella elliotti thallus (see also Barattolo, 1983, with a reconstruction of Suppiluliumaella showing different morphologies and different inclination of laterals along the axis). Unfortunately, no section illustrating the continuity between the two parts of the same algae was identified: thus, this assignment is still questionable.

Figures

Fig. 6 Dasycladalean algae from the limestone pebbles of Trbušnica. a, b Salpingoporella muehlbergii (Lorenz); longitudinal-oblique (a) and transverse-oblique (b) sections; thin section RR4518. c, e Salpingoporella sp. in transverse section (c) and oblique section (e); thin section RR4518. d Salpingoporella gr. pygmaea (Gümbel) in oblique section; thin section RR4518. f, h Suppiluliumaella gr. polyreme Elliott; transverse-slightly oblique sections; e, thin section RR4516; h, thin section RR4517. i?Triploporella sp.; longitudinal-oblique section, thin sectionRR4518. g, j, k?Suppiluliumaella sp. in oblique sections (g, j) and longitudinal-oblique (k) sections; g, thin section RR4519; j, k, thin section RR4521. Scale bar = 0.25 mm.