New Early Rupelian Endemic Porcellaneous Larger Foraminifera from the Prebetic Range, Westernmost Tethys. Discussion on <em>Praerhapydionina</em>

Abstract

Peneroplis peramplus n. sp. and Spirolinella emmae n. gen., n. sp. are described from the early Rupelian of the Ibi section in the Prebetic Range (southeastern Iberia). The former is a Peneroplis species of evolute annular growth with a large bilocular megalospheric embryo. Spirolinella n. gen. is similar to Spirolina, from which it differs by a complex aperture. Spirolinella is also similar to Praerhapydionina, but it completely lacks radial partitions. It also differs in the wall texture, homogeneous in Spirolinella and with a pseudokeriotheca-like texture in Praerhapydionina. This newly observed character in Praerhapydionina will help to identify the genus and verify its presumed cosmopolitan distribution. The two new species show the same stratigraphical range, corresponding to the Shallow Benthic Zone SBZ 21, early Rupelian, and are considered endemic to the carbonate platform that developed during the Paleogene in the southeastern margin of the Iberian plate, at the westernmost Tethys.