Sulcusina iberica n. ichnogen., n. ichnosp., a new crustacean microcoprolite from the Upper Cretaceous of Spain

Abstract

The new crustacean microcoprolite Sulcusina iberica n. ichnogen., n. ichnosp., is described from the Upper Cretaceous Alarcón Formation (?uppermost Cenomanian to ?lower Coniacian) of the Southern Iberian range. The new ichnogenus is characterized by rod-shaped bodies with parallel-running longitudinal canals (without interconnecting lines) of rounded transverse sections within the symmetry plane. Characteristic is the presence of a central longitudinal furrow (or canal) that extends to the middle of the microcoprolite, without any connection to the laterally grouped canals of usually lower diameter. The latter display a circular outline in transverse sections. Sulcusina n. ichnogen. can be compared to some extant with both Helicerina Brönnimann & Masse and Lercarina Senowbari-Daryan. The new microcoprolite occurs in monotypic grainstones together with some thin-walled miliolids and ostracods ascribed to a peritidal facies.