Coxites zubairensis Smout, 1956

Coxites zubairensis Smout, 1956 View in CoL

Fig. 7 View Fig

T 1956 Coxites zubairensis n. gen., n. sp. Smout, p. 343; pl. 2, figs. 1-6; early Turonian, southern Iraq [the early Turonian age is questionable and is better regarded as late Cenomanian]

? 1961 Coxites cf. zubairensis - Hamaoui, p. 13; pl. 9, fig. 9; Cenomanian, Israel.

? 1965 Coxites sp. - Hamaoui, pl. 14, figs. 8-9; Cenomanian, Israel.

1971 Coxites zubairensis - Fleury, pl. 3 fig. 21; late Cenomanian, Greece.

1971 Trochospira avnimelechi Hamaoui & Saint-Marc - Fleury; pl. 3, figs. 20; late Cenomanian, Greece.

1974 Coxites zubairensis - Saint-Marc, p. 234-235; pl. IV, fig. 11; late Cenomanian, Lebanon.

1976 Coxites zubairensis - Leppig, p. 813; text fig. 2; Tf. III, figs. 1-6; pl. IV, figs. 9-12; late Cenomanian-early Turonian, Crete.

Non 1976 Coxites zubairensis - Luperto-Sinni, pv. 44, figs. 13-16; pl. 45, figs. 1-6; Senonian, Italy [= Antalyna korayi Farinacci & Köylüoglu, 1985 ]

? 1980 Coxites sp. - Fleury, p. 492; pl. III, figs. 15-17; Cenomanian, Greece.

1981 Coxites zubairensis - Saint-Marc, pl. 1, fig. 16; late Cenomanian, Lebanon.

1990 Coxites zubairensis - Cherchi & Schroeder, fig. 6; middle-late Cenomanian, Iranian Zagros.

1994 Coxites zubairensis - Chiocchini et al., pl. 19, figs. 9-11; late Cenomanian, Italy.

1998 Coxites zubairensis - Whittaker et al., p. 27; pl. 3, fig. 3; pl. 45, figs. 3-5; middle Cenomanian-middle Turonian [age interpretation can be contested, see below.

Specimens are most likely late Cenomanian], southern Iraq.

2009 Coxites zubairensis - Sari et al., pl. 4, figs. 1-3; latest Cenomanian, western Taurides, Turkey.

2012 Coxites zubairensis - Chiocchini et al., pl. 116, figs. 1-8; late Cenomanian, central Italy.

2013 Coxites zubairensis - Rahimpour-Bonab et al., fig. 8(H); Cenomanian-Turonian, Iranian Zagros.

? 2013 Coxites zubairensis - Ghanem & Kuss, fig. 14(11); late Cenomanian, Syria.

2014b Coxites zubairensis - Omidvar et al., fig. 3(9); Cenomanian-Turonian, Iranian Zagros.

Non 2014 Coxites zubairensis - Afghah & Dookh; pl. 2, fig. 1; Cenomanian, Iranian Zagros [?= Trochospira avnimelechi Hamaoui & Saint-Marc ]

2016 Coxites zubairensis - Consorti et al., fig. 4(i); fig. 6(a, c); early?-middle Cenomanian, Iberian Ranges, Spain.

2016 Coxites zubairensis - Assadi et al., fig. 6(a7); late Cenomanian, Iranian Zagros.

Non 2016 Coxites zubairensis - Rikhtegarzadeh et al., pl. 1, fig. 6; Cenomanian, Iranian Zagros. [=? Daxia cenomana ]

Non 2017 Coxites zubairensis - Boukhary et al., p. 4; fig. 1; late Cenomanian-early Turonian, Eastern Desert, Egypt. [=? Spirocyclina atlasica Saint-Marc & Rahhali, 1982 ]

? 2019 Coxites zubairensis - Kiarostami et al., pl. 2(k); Cenomanian-Santonian, Iranian Zagros. [= lapsus calami in Santonian age, should be Turonian]

Non 2019 Coxites zubairensis - Parnian et al., fig. 3(R); Cenomanian, Iranian Zagros [= Heterocoskinolina saintmarci Luger, 2018 ]

Non 2019 Coxites zubairensis - Saeedi-Razavi et al., pl. 1, fig. 4; Cenomanian, Iranian Zagros [=Indeterminate nezzazatid]

2021 Coxites zubairensis - Saeedi-Razavi et al., pl. 1, fig. 6; Cenomanian, Iranian Zagros. [note plate is the same as used in Rikhtegarzadeh et al., 2017]

2021 Coxites zubairensis - Solak, pl. 3, figs. H-J; late Cenomanian, central Taurides, Turkey.

Taxonomy/Identity: Trochospiral throughout with a flat dorsal surface and low conical ventral surface with a subacute margin. Its main characteristic is having transverse partitions attached to a toothplate, some of which may fuse terminally. See also Loeblich & Tappan, 1987, p. 88.

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

Reference Images: Smout (1956), Pl. 2, Figs. 1-6 View Fig View Fig View Fig View Fig View Fig View Fig , p. 343. See also Saint-Marc (1974), Leppig (1976), Sari et al. (2009).

Confident Stratigraphic Range: base middle – top late Cenomanian, scarce records in the middle Cenomanian, common records in the late Cenomanian.

Uncertain Stratigraphic Range: Turonian and younger.

Originally described from the subsurface Mishrif Formation in southern Iraq ( Smout, 1956), C. zubairensis was assigned a type level of most likely Lower Turonian although no corroborating evidence for this age was provided. Although the Mishrif Formation can extend into the Turonian ( Bromhead et al., 2022; Simmons et al., 2024), it is more typically late Cenomanian. Saint-Marc (1974) discounted a Turonian age because the microfauna associated with C. zubairensis in Lebanon was clearly Cenomanian and consisted of Cisalveolina fallax Reichel (= C. fraasi Gümbel ), C. lehneri Reichel and others. On the other hand, Leppig (1976) recorded well-illustrated C. zubairensis from Crete, where it was said to be associated with “ Nezzazata simplex Omara , Chrysalidina cf. gradata d’Orbigny , Pseudolituonella reicheli Marie , Reissella ramonensis Hamaoui , Debarina hahounerensis Raoult & Vila , Minouxia lobata Gendrot , Valvulammina picardi Henson , Accordiella conica Farinacci , Scandonea samnitica De Castro , Pseudocyclammina aff. massiliensis Maync and Dictyoconus aff. a egyptiensis (Chapman)”. This is a mixture of faunal elements that are in part Cenomanian and in part Turonian or indeed younger ( Velić, 2007; Chiocchini et al., 2012 and – some with an FAD in the early Coniacian – Frijia et al., 2015). Unfortunately, no biostratigraphic distribution chart was provided and the certainty with which C. zubairensis can be regarded as Turonian or younger is impeded. C. zubairensis was also recorded in post-Cenomanian stratigraphy in Italy ( Luperto-Sinni, 1976) but these specimens are probably Antalyna korayi , a nezzazatid first described from the latest Cretaceous of Turkey ( Farinacci & Köylüoglu, 1985).

In the majority of publications C. zubairensis has often been recorded alongside a variety of Cenomanian (typically late Cenomanian) taxa including C. fraasi , Ovalveolina ovum (d’Orbigny) , Chrysalidina gradata and Pseudolituonella reicheli . Occasional references to a middle Cenomanian range component are suggested by Arnaud et al. (1981), Whittaker et al. (1998), Bernaus & Masse (2007), and more recently by Consorti et al. (2016) from Iberia, with a well-illustrated record from the Villa de Ves Formation. Consorti et al. (2016) attributes a lower? to middle Cenomanian age to that unit. Whittaker et al. (1998) extends the range of C. zubairensis to the top of the middle Turonian but justification for this is not given. Records from the early Cenomanian (e.g., Afghah & Fadaei, 2014) are unsubstantiated. In summary, most records – many from the Iranian Zagros (e.g., Omidvar et al., 2014b) – attribute a late/latest Cenomanian range for this taxon ( Saint-Marc, 1974, 1981; Chiocchini et al., 2012) and it is sometimes used as a subzonal marker in the upper part of the late Cenomanian (e.g. Sari et al., 2009). Nonetheless middle Cenomanian records are known, and possible Turonian and younger records cannot be entirely excluded.

The single illustration of a specimen attributed to C. zubairensis from the Cenomanian of Egypt by Boukhary et al. (2017) appears not to be trochospiral but planispiral becoming peneropliform-flabelliform and may be referrable to Spirocyclina atlasic a.

Geographic Range: Confidently recorded from throughout the Mediterranean and Arabian Plate.