Permian (Kungurian) Foraminifera from Western Australia described by Walter Parr in 1942: reassessment and additions

Abstract

Haig, D.W., October 2017. Permian (Kungurian) Foraminifera from Western Australia described by Walter Parr in 1942: reassessment and additions. Alcheringa 42, 37–66. ISSN 0311-5518.Exceptionally well-preserved siliceous agglutinated Foraminifera originally recorded by Walter Parr in 1942 are redescribed and illustrated by rendered multifocal reflected-light images. Significant new observations are made on wall texture and apertural morphology. The specimens are from the Quinnanie Shale and lower Wandagee Formation in the Merlinleigh Sub-basin of the Southern Carnarvon Basin, a marginal rift that splayed from the East Gondwana interior rift. During the Early Permian, a restricted shallow sea inundated the rift. The formations are part of sequence III of the Byro Group and belong within the Kungurian Stage (Cisuralian, Lower Permian). Of the 14 agglutinated species described by Parr, six are retained under their original names, viz., Hyperammina coleyi Parr, 1942, H. rudis Parr, 1942, Ammodiscus nitidus Parr, 1942, A. wandageeensis Parr, 1942, Tolypammina undulata Parr, 1942 and Reophax tricameratus Parr, 1942; one is transferred to a different species, viz., Thurammina texana Cushman & Waters, 1928a; six are placed with other genera, viz., Thuramminoides pusilla (Parr, 1942), Teichertina teicherti (Parr, 1942), Sansabaina acicula (Parr, 1942), Tolypammina? adhaerens (Parr, 1942), Kunklerina subasper (Parr, 1942), Trochamminopsis subobtusa (Parr, 1942); and a species of Ammobaculites Cushman, 1910 identified by Parr is now left in open nomenclature. From Parr's material, eight additional species are described: two new species, viz., Hyperammina parri sp. nov. and Gaudryinopsis raggatti sp. nov.; rare representatives of Aaptotoichus quinnaniensis Haig, 2003; and very rare species of Lagenammina Rhumbler, 1911, Giraliarella Crespin, 1958, Glomospira Rzehak, 1885, Hormosinella Shchedrina, 1969, and Reophax Denys de Montfort, 1808, all of which are left in open nomenclature. Hyperammina rudis is the type species of Hyperamminita Crespin, 1958, a genus now considered a junior subjective synonym of Hyperammina Brady, 1878. Thuramminoides pusilla is considered a senior subjective synonym of T. sphaeroidalis Plummer, 1945, the type species of Thuramminoides Plummer, 1945. Imagery is presented confirming that the simple cylindrical canals through the wall of Teichertia teicherti differ from the branching canals in Crithionina rotundata Cushman, 1910, type species of Oryctoderma Loeblich & Tappan, 1961. The collection contains some of the earliest representatives of the revised family Verneuilinoididae Suleymanov, 1973, herein elevated from subfamily rank, and considered to include Pennsylvanian–Cisuralian representatives of Mooreinella Cushman & Waters, 1928a, Aaptotoichus Loeblich & Tappan, 1982, Digitina Crespin & Parr, 1941, Gaudryinopsis Podobina, 1975, Caronia Brönnimann, Whittaker & Zaninetti, 1992 (=Palustrella Brönnimann, Whittaker & Zaninetti, 1992) and Verneuilinoides Loeblich & Tappan, 1949.David W. Haig [david.haig@uwa.edu.au] Centre for Energy Geoscience, School of Earth Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia.