Taxonomic revision of the canaliculate radiolitid (rudist, bivalve) genus Lattenbergites Lupu, 1987 from the Upper Cretaceous of the central and eastern Mediterranean Tethys: palaeobiogeographic distribution

Abstract

Lattenbergites Lupu was previously considered to be a new genus of canaliculate radiolitid from the middle–upper Coniacian of Lattenberg, Germany. The re-examination of the holotype and paratypes of the type species L. hermi Lupu of this genus reveals diagnostic characters of Joufia milovanovici (Slišković), including the presence in the left valve of a single ring of radial canals in the calcitic outer shell layer, the canals having sub-rectangular cross-sectional shape flanking the myocardinal apparatus in the originally aragonitic inner shell layer, and a pair of tubular structures in its postero-ventral part, opposing the ‘pseudopillar’-like structures of the right valve. Therefore, we propose that Lattenbergites Lupu, is a junior synonym of Joufia milovanovici. J. milovanovici from the Malatya, Haymana-Polatlı Basins and eastern Pontides of Türkiye, as well as the Roşia Basin of Romania is also described and compared to Lattenbergites. The presence of J. milovanovici in the Northern Calcareous Alps during the middle–late Coniacian, Romania during the late Santonian to early–middle Campanian, and Türkiye during the late Maastrichtian, allows us to reconsider the palaeobiogeographic distribution of this species within the Mediterranean Tethys during Late Cretaceous time, as well as for the genus Joufia.