Rabanitina basraensis Smout, 1956

Rabanitina basraensis Smout, 1956 View in CoL

Fig. 14 View Fig

T 1956 Rabanitina basraensis n. gen., n. sp., Smout, p. 344; pl. 1, fig. 32; pl. 2, figs. 7-22; text-fig. 2; early Cenomanian [most likely late Albian], southern Iraq.

Non 1966 Rabanitina cf. basraensis - Luperto Sinni, p.121, 125; pl. 9, fig. 3-4. Cenomanian, southern Italy. [= Cisalveolina lehneri Reichel 1941 ]

? 1969 Barkerina sp. - Sampò, Pl. XLV, fig. 2; Cenomanian, Iranian Zagros.

Non 1992 Rabanitina basraensis – Kalantari, pl. 74; text-fig. 156, 1-4; Cenomanian, Iranian Zagros [= Reticulinella reicheli ]

Non 2021 Rabanitina basraensis - Mohajer et al., pl. 1, fig. k; Cenomanian, Iranian Zagros [= Reticulinella reicheli ]

Taxonomy/Identity: The test is characteristically planoconvex (typically in the juvenile stage) to subglobular (adult), trochoid throughout with a well-rounded periphery and multiple apertures in a single, interiomarginal row. The chambers show a “complex longitudinal plate” ( Smout, 1956), the presence of which (and the lack of apparent pseudokeriotheca) separates this species from the very similar, homeomorphic, Simplorabanitina simplex Consorti et al. (2022 - see below).

Whittaker et al. (1998) incorrectly considered the wall to be porcellaneous.

Reference Images: Smout (1956), Text-Fig. 2, Pl. 1, Fig. 32, Pl. 2, Figs. 7 View Fig -22, p. 344.

Confident Stratigraphic Range: latest Albian.

Uncertain Stratigraphic Range: Cenomanian.

Originally regarded as occurring probably low in the Cenomanian, this is now known (e.g., Bromhead et al., 2022) to be mostly latest Albian. Consorti et al. (2022) introduced Simplorabanitina simplex for a related form from the middle Cenomanian Sarvak Formation of the Iranian Zagros. It may be that some unillustrated records of R. basraensis from the Sarvak Formation ( Jamalpour et al., 2017; Kiarostami et al., 2019; Asghari et al., 2022) and the Mishrif Formation of Kuwait (El-Naggar & El- Rifaiy, 1972) are actually this relatively new species, although an illustration of “ Barkerina sp. ” by Sampò (1969) from the Sarvak Formation might possibly be R. basraensis . Other records of R. basraensis from the Sarvak ( Kalantari, 1992; Mohajer et al., 2021) are most likely Reticulinella reicheli .

Geographic Range: Only confidently known from its type locality in southern Iraq and possibly the Iranian Zagros. Cherchi et al. (1976) recorded, but did not illustrate, a form they called R. cf. basraensis from the undifferentiated Cenomanian of southern Italy.