Margarosmilia dividenda, Vasseur & Lathuilière, 2021

Vasseur, Raphaël & Lathuilière, Bernard, 2021, Pliensbachian corals from the Western Tethys, Geodiversitas 43 (22), pp. 1187-1291 : 1240-1242

Margarosmilia dividenda n. sp.

( Fig. 36 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:37CC44E3-55EF-4487-82C3-90E35002B5DA

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype CPUN Gu 1105E2-1. STUDIED SAMPLE. — CPUN Gu 1105E2-1. ETYMOLOGY. — Referstothephacelo-thamnasterioidaspectofthecolony. TYPE HORIZON. — Upper Pliensbachian ( Margaritatus ammonite zone). TYPE LOCALITY. — Guigou plateau, 33°27’45”N, 4°56’43”W, Middle Atlas of Morocco. GEOGRAPHIC AND STRATIGRAPHIC RANGES. — Upper Pliensbachian of Guigou Plateau ( Middle Atlas of Morocco) .

DESCRIPTION

Phacelo-thamnasterioid colony with rounded calices irregular in size and shape. Growth by intracalicular budding. Radial elements are compact, free or more often joined septa that are laterally sharply granulated. Trabecular microstructure. The inner edge of major septa sometimes join together in the axis of the calice. Endotheca made of thin vesicular dissepiments. Synapticulae not observed. An epitheca s.l. wraps the corallites. Calicular diameter: 5 to 17 mm – Number of septa: 84 to 123 – Septal density: 5 for 2 mm – Trabecular density: approximately 4 per 1 mm.

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

This taxon differs from all the other species in the genus by the phacelo-thamnasterioid aspect of the colony.

Figures

FIG. 36. — Margarosmilia dividenda n. sp.: A, distal view of specimen CPUN Gu1105E2-1; B, detail of septal ornamentation in specimen CPUN Gu1105E2-1 (transverse thin section); C, detail in distal view of the specimen CPUN Gu1105E2-1; D, transverse thin section in specimen CPUN Gu1105E2-1. Scale bars: A, 5 cm; B, C, D, 1 cm.