Felixaraea
Beauvais, 1982, vol. 2, p. 25
Felixaraea Beauvais, 1982, vol. 2, p. 25 is a junior synonym (available and invalid), see Truncoconus Turnsek, in Turnsek and Mihajlovic, 1981, p. 34.
Beauvais (1982) based his genus Felixaraea on a specimen of the Alloiteau collection at the Natural History Museum Paris labeled as Haplaraea rennensis. The only specimen labeled as such is R.10953 which is also marked as 'type' and completely corresponds to the specimen in Alloiteau, 1952, pl. 2, fig. 4. Because Beauvais' documentation clearly points to the idea that he was only referring to a single specimen presented in Alloiteau's work of 1952, the material labeled as R.10953 is used as the holotype of the genus Felixaraea. In addition, because Alloiteau figured the material as 'holotype' and presented a description of the material on p. 657, fig. 110, he is the original author of this species.
Type Species
Haplaraea rennensis Alloiteau, 1952, p. 657, pl. 2, fig. 4, Text-Fig. 110; Original Designation Beauvais, 1982, vol. 2, p. 25.
Type Specimen: Holotype; ; Not Traced; Unknown
Type Locality: Upper Santonian of France (Les Corbiere, Aude).
Classification
Remarks
Originally, the genus Truncoconus Turnšek was placed in the family Haplaraeidae, the nominatform of which was traditionally viewed as a sister taxon of the genus Epistreptophyllum. Later, in their comprehensive work on Epistreptophyllum, Pandey and Lathuilière (1997) documented the differences between Haplaraea and Epistreptophyllum. Subsequently, Epistreptophyllum was grouped with the family Dermosmiliidae (Pandey and Fürsich, 2003). Regarding its septal ornamentation; the presence of septal pores; types of endothecal dissepiments; and the presence of synapticulae, the genus Truncoconus corresponds well to Epistreptophyllum, but is distinguished from it in having a well-developed endotheca, and axial structures that are significantly more solid and compact. The same applies to the holotype of the type species of Felixaraea, based on which it was interpreted to be synonymous with Truncoconus (Baron-Szabo, 2002, p. 105). Given the wide range of morphological appearances found in their sister taxon Epistreptophyllum, the genera Truncoconus and Felixaraea fit in well: Truncoconus closely resembles the forms representing the structurally more solid variations and tend to have less elaborate septal ornamentations. On the other side of the variation spectrum there is Felixaraea which fits well with the variations that show both rather coarse septal ornamentations and the tendency to form dissociating trabeculae. With the exception of the above mentioned differing characteristics, the holotype of the type species of Truncoconus closely corresponds to forms of Epistreptophyllum documented in Pandey and Lathuilière (1997, Figs. 7.4; 7.8; 7.10), and Pandey and Fürsich, (2003, fl. 17, figs. 8a–b; pl. 18, fig. 6). The holotype of the type species of Felixaraea shows close resemblance to the forms of Epistreptophyllum documented in Pandey and Lathuilière (1997, Figs. 8.8; 8.11), and Pandey and Fürsich, (2003, pl. 17, Fig. 2), thus underscoring the taxonomic affinities of Truncoconus and Felixaraea. Because Truncoconus shows affinities to Epistreptophyllum, it is grouped with the family Dermosmiliidae. Consequently, the family Felixaraeidae is regarded as a junior synonym of the family Dermosmiliidae (Baron-Szabo, in press)
Distribution
- Central Europe; Late Cretaceous
This page has been in preparation since 02-Jun-2007 12:36
This version was contributed by Rosemarie Baron-Szabo on 04-Dec-2013 23:48.
Page authors are: Rosemarie Baron-Szabo. Please contact the editor if you would like to contribute to the diagnosis of this taxon.
The editor is: Rosemarie Baron-Szabo
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