A boring foraminiferan from the Upper Jurassic of England and Northern France

Abstract

Abstract. Small rosette borings, consisting of an excavated pit from which is subtended a system of branching galleries, are common in carbonate skeletal substrates in the Upper Jurassic Oxford Clay (Callovian-Oxfordian) and Kimmeridge Clay (Kimmeridgian) of southern England and northern France. The opening of the pit onto the substrate surface is surrounded by an agglutinated collar, which suggests that they may be the work of Foraminifera. The new genus and species, Globodendrina monile, are erected to accommodate them. Other examples of boring in the Foraminiferida are reviewed. It is proposed that other similar rosette boring ichnogenera may also be the work of foraminiferans.