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Cantulodinium protuberatum
From Fensome et al., 2019:
Cantulodinium? protuberatum Wall, 1965a, p.160, pl.4, figs.14–20; pl.8, fig.8. Holotype: Wall, 1965a, pl.4, fig.15; pl.8, fig.8.
Originally Cantulodinium, subsequently (and now) Cantulodinium?. Questionable assignment: Stover and Evitt
(1978, p.98) as a problematic species. Age: Pliensbachian–Toarcian.
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Original description: [Wall, 1965a, p. 160]:
Cantulodinium protuberatum Wall, new species
Plate 4, figures 14-20; plate 8, figure 8
Holotype: C9/1/4, Three Tiers (A. margaritatus Zone), Golden Cap, Dorset.
Diagnosis: Test elongate, fusiform to subrectangular or,rarely, subtriangular in outline, bearing from four to seven short, rounded protuberances or bluntly pointed spines.
Description: The hollow test is thin-walled and occurs in a variety of shapes but is most often fusiform and somewhat bell-shaped in outline, having a bluntly pointed apex and a broader basal region. The spines are characteristically short, rounded, hollow protuberances but occasionally are narrower and pointed. A few forms with the same type of protuberances but having a minute tetrahedral test are believed to belong to this variable species.
Dimensions: Overall size 9-26 u, spines 1-4 u; holotype 26 u overall (25 specimens measured, over 30 recorded).
Occurrence: Green Ammonite Beds (P. davoei Zone), Three Tiers, Down Cliff Sands and Thorncombe Sands (A. margaritatus Zone) and Junction Bed (D. levesquei Zone), Dorset Lias.
Comparisons: The shape and nature of the processes of this species strongly recall those of the Lower Cretaceous species Cantulodinium speciosum Alberti (1961, p. 23).
The Liassic species is smaller and has a less inflated test. In view of the close similarity of the two species and the uncertainty of the dinoflagellate affinity of C. speciosum, Cantulodinium is provisionally classified as a netromorphitid acritarch.
Cantulodinium? protuberatum Wall, 1965a, p.160, pl.4, figs.14–20; pl.8, fig.8. Holotype: Wall, 1965a, pl.4, fig.15; pl.8, fig.8.
Originally Cantulodinium, subsequently (and now) Cantulodinium?. Questionable assignment: Stover and Evitt
(1978, p.98) as a problematic species. Age: Pliensbachian–Toarcian.
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Original description: [Wall, 1965a, p. 160]:
Cantulodinium protuberatum Wall, new species
Plate 4, figures 14-20; plate 8, figure 8
Holotype: C9/1/4, Three Tiers (A. margaritatus Zone), Golden Cap, Dorset.
Diagnosis: Test elongate, fusiform to subrectangular or,rarely, subtriangular in outline, bearing from four to seven short, rounded protuberances or bluntly pointed spines.
Description: The hollow test is thin-walled and occurs in a variety of shapes but is most often fusiform and somewhat bell-shaped in outline, having a bluntly pointed apex and a broader basal region. The spines are characteristically short, rounded, hollow protuberances but occasionally are narrower and pointed. A few forms with the same type of protuberances but having a minute tetrahedral test are believed to belong to this variable species.
Dimensions: Overall size 9-26 u, spines 1-4 u; holotype 26 u overall (25 specimens measured, over 30 recorded).
Occurrence: Green Ammonite Beds (P. davoei Zone), Three Tiers, Down Cliff Sands and Thorncombe Sands (A. margaritatus Zone) and Junction Bed (D. levesquei Zone), Dorset Lias.
Comparisons: The shape and nature of the processes of this species strongly recall those of the Lower Cretaceous species Cantulodinium speciosum Alberti (1961, p. 23).
The Liassic species is smaller and has a less inflated test. In view of the close similarity of the two species and the uncertainty of the dinoflagellate affinity of C. speciosum, Cantulodinium is provisionally classified as a netromorphitid acritarch.