Watznaueria deflandrei

Watznaueria deflandrei Noël, 1965

Tremalithus barnesiae Black in Black & Barnes, 1959; Under the ICN, any species name originally published in association with a provisional genus is not validly published (ICN Art. 35.1) and therefore has no standing under the ICN.

Watznaueria barnesiae (Black in Black & Barnes, 1959) Perch-Nielsen, 1968;  Invalid according to ICN Art. 35.1.

Emended description: In this study, elliptical specimens of Watznaueria measuring less than 7.0 µm in length and characterised by a closed central area are assigned to Watznaueria deflandrei.

In distal view, the extinction angles measured from the distal side are typically approximately 73° in the distal shield. This angle cannot be directly measured in the tube cycles due to the oblique orientation of their constituent segments; however, the apparent angle between extinction directions in the tube cycle is approximately 63°, corresponding to an obliquity of approximately 27°.

Watznaueria deflandrei differs from similarly sized Watznaueria leesiae in the optical properties of the tube cycle. In Watznaueria deflandrei, the tube cycle exhibits inclined extinction, whereas Watznaueria leesiae shows parallel extinction in the tube cycle, indicating an extinction angle of 0° (assuming the specimen orientation remains unchanged during plate montage).

Watznaueria deflandrei is further distinguished from Watznaueria paenepelagicus by its smaller size (<7.0 µm), although both species display broadly similar extinction characteristics.

Black, M. & Barnes, B. 1959. The structure of Coccoliths from the English Chalk. Geological Magazine. 96(5): 321-328.

Noël, D. 1965. Sur les Coccolithes du Jurassique Européen et d'Afrique du Nord. Essai de classification des coccolithes fossiles. Éditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris. 1-129.

Perch-Nielsen, K., 1968c. Der Feinbau und die Klassifikation der Coccolithen aus dem Maastrichtien von Danemark. Biologiske Skrifter, Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 16, 1-96.

Reinhardt, P. 1971. Synopsis der Gattungen und Arten der mesozoischen Coccolithen und anderer kalkiger Nannofossilien. Teil III. – Freiberger Forschungshefte. C267: 19–41.