Montenegrella? gracilis n. sp., a new calcareous alga (Dasycladales) from the Upper Barremian of Mt. Biokovo (Dinarides Mts., Croatia)

Abstract

Montegrella? gracilis n.sp. (Dasycladales) is characterized by a thick calcareous envelope and narrow central cavity. Branches display two orders of laterals with alternate arrangement between consecutive whorls. The primaries are visibly differentiated into a thin, tendril-like stalk in the proximal part and a club-shaped or ellipsoidal inflated swelling in the distal part. The secondaries are poorly visible, of unclear shape and number, with a supposedly common starting point. In the type-locality, the alga occurs within a rich, typically Upper Barremian, algal assemblage. The validity of the genus Montenegrella, being disputed by BARATTOLO (1983), is commented upon by showing the generic attribution of the same or different species either to Suppiluliumaella or to Montenegrella by different authors.

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“…For a detailed description of the fossil assemblage, geographic and stratigraphic position see SOKAČ (2004SOKAČ ( , 2005SOKAČ ( , 2007, SOKAČ & GRGA SO VIĆ (2004VIĆ ( , 2008.…”

“…Biokovo we noticed sections of some dasycladalean algae that were not mentioned in previously published papers. The description and illustrations of these previously identified algae, accompanied by short descriptions of lithology, lithofacies changes, and the stratigraphic position of the sample KJ-18 in the local geological column, were given in SOKAČ (2004,2005,2007) and SOKAČ & GRGASOVIĆ (2004, partly 2008. In addition, the outcrop in question was visited and discussed by the participants of the 9th International Congress on Fossil Algae, held in 2007 in Croatia.…”