N21

Tholospyris procera Goll

Tholospyris procera Goll, 1969, p. 328, pl. 59, fig. 8, 10-12

DESCRIPTION AND DIMENSIONS

"A species of Tholospyris characterized by sagittal-ring tubercles and a lattice shell that surrounds the apex of the sagittal ring and extends below the basal ring. . .

"Sagittal ring subrectangular; 75 to 85 mu high; 45 to 70 mu thick; joined directly to front and back of lattice shell. No axial or apical spines. Some skeletons have very short vertical spine projecting from lower third of sagittal ring; on other skeletons, vertical spine is absent. Some skeletons have frontal spine, whereas other skeletons have frontal bar. No connector bars; primary-lateral spines short.

"Basal ring oval; 54 to 105 mu wide; 24 to 57 mu thick; joined directly to front and back of sagittal ring; encloses two basal pores. Lattice shell 105 to 150 mu wide; 116 to 182 mu high; surrounds apex of sagittal ring; composed of irregular meshwork of massive lattice bars that are sub-circular in cross section and frame subpolygonal lattice pores 4 to 50 mu in diameter. In some skeletons, lattice shell extends below basal ring and has large basal opening. In other specimens, lattice shell ends at basal ring; variable number of irregularly spaced and irregularly shaped basal spines project from basal ring. Four laterally oriented lattice bars joined to sagittal ring. Paired tubercles located at the junctions of these lattice bars and the sagittal ring. Apical portion of the lattice shell joined to front and back of apex of sagittal ring ...

"Representatives of Tholospyris procera n. sp., differ from those of T. kantiana in having no primary-lateral bars and from those of T. devexa n. sp., in having no sagittal-ring spines at the proximal end of the frontal spine. Skeletons of the type-species of Tholospyris, T. cortinisca, have primary-lateral bars and three basal spines that project from the basal ring; the lattice shell does not extend below the basal ring". (from Goll, 1969).

REMARKS

1. Goll (personal communication) prefers not to include Amphispyris subquadrata Haeckel (1887, p. 1097, pl. 88, Fig. 5) in the synonymy of T. procera because the figured specimen lacks tubercules on the sagittal ring. For the same reason Semantis sigillum Haeckel (1887, p. 957, pl. 92, Fig. 1) is only tentatively regarded as a synonym in Goll, 1969.

2. Benson (1966, p. 297) describes and illustrates a species which he calls Amphispyris subquadrata Haeckel. Goll (personal communication) considers Benson's specimens to be the same as his T. procera

Plate 20, figures 3a ,b

N22

RECENT DISTRIBUTION

1. Goll, 1969. "Representatives of Tholospyris procera are in all the samples between JYN V 38P, 397-399 cm. (lower Miocene) and DWBG 147G, 4-7 cm. (Quaternary)".

2. Molina-Cruz, 1975, Code N1A; the distinction between this species and A. subquadrata recognized by Goll was not made by Molina-Cruz; not used in factor analysis of southeast Pacific sediments; cf. Appendix 10 for percent N1A at each station.