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Saeptodinium hansonianum

Saeptodinium hansonianum (Traverse, 1955) Stover and Evitt, 1978

Originally Peridinium (Appendix B), subsequently Palaeoperidinium, thirdly (and now) Saeptodinium.
This combination was not validly published in Harris (1974, p.162), since that author did not fully reference the basionym. Evitt (1974, p.4) indicated that this species has affinities with the modern species Peridinium limbatum (Stokes, 1887) Lemmermann, 1899 and emended the diagnosis of this species as Palaeoperidinium pyrophorum.

Holotype: Traverse, 1955, pl.13, fig.147
Locus typicus: Vermont, Brandon Lignite, Brandon Formation
Stratum typicum: Late Oligocene

Original diagnosis: Traverse, 1955, p.77: Peridinium hansonianum
Very unusual microfossils grossly resembling crushed paperbags or collapsed rubber balls. The "collapsed bags" are much folded and wrinkled. Because of the folding, the fossils often have the appearance of being one sac within another. One, or sometimes 2 or 3, folds continue into snout-like processes. The larger of these processes are terminated by collar-like openings. If there are several processes, one is usually much longer than the others. Some specimens clearly show a belt-like, indented groove about 6 µm wide running around a diameter of the microfossil. This represents the "equatorial groove" of this group of flagellates. The entire surface of the microfossil is covered with very tiny but pronounced papillae. Overall size: ca. 70 µm by 80 µm.
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