Loftusia persica Brady, a Maastrichtian larger benthic foraminifera and not an Eocene Lazarus taxon

Abstract

The large-sized agglutinated benthic foraminifera Loftusia Brady is a typical constituent of the shallow-water carbonates of the (upper) Maastrichtian Tarbur Formation, SW Iran (Zagros Zone). Different bio- and lithoclasts from the ambient depositional environment can be observed incorporated into the wall and other skeletal elements. These can include various small-sized benthic foraminifera belonging to different groups, but very rarely have planktonic forms have been observed inside the tests. The inclusion of a single specimen of an “Eocene planktonic foraminifera” observed within one of the type-specimens of Loftusia persica Brady (the type species of Loftusia) from Iran was reported in a recent paper by BouDagher-Fadel and Price (2009). The authors concluded that Loftusia persica represents an Eocene Lazarus taxon. Our conclusion (supported by abundant specimens from the Tarbur Formation of Iran) is that this single specimen is undiagnostic. Instead, Loftusia persica and the genus Loftusia are considered as Maastrichtian marker taxa that became finally extinct at the end Cretaceous. © 2020 Micropaleontology Press. All rights reserved.