Lancettopsis harringtonii sp. nov, a new acritarch and related morphotypes from the Sauce Grande Formation of Pennsylvanian-Cisuralian age, Claromecó Basin, Argentina

Abstract

A new acritarch, Lancettopsis harringtonii sp. nov, is proposed for the glacio-marine Sauce Grande Formation of Pennsylvanian-Cisuralian age, located in the Claromecó Basin, Argentina. The genus Lancettopsis emended in this work was originally defined as part of the life cycle of the genus Campenia. However, our records indicate that Lancettopsis may represent the final stage of the repeated curling inward of the vesicle wall of originally spheroidal morphotypes. In this regard, Lancettopsis harringtonii sp. nov. is interpreted as the repeated curling inward of the vesicle wall of a sphaeromorph palynomorph, gen. et sp. indet. The genus Lancettopsis, to date only registered in unequivocal marine successions of Phanerozoic rocks, is here considered to be constituent of the organic-walled marine microplankton, although its biological affinity cannot be confirmed.