144 



UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 215 



made either at a magnification of X 216 with the stereo- 

 binocular microscope or with transmitted light. Acid 

 treatment has also been used to make the apertural area 

 visible and free of ornamentation. The aperture con- 

 sists of 2 to 4 minute openings aligned at the base of the 

 final chamber and the adjoining upper surface is cov- 

 ered by numerous papillae or minute spines aligned in 

 radiating rows. These rows continue over the entire 

 apertural face, the ridges running between the pores 

 at the base of the face and touching the opposite cham- 

 ber surface. An open elongate aperture, as described 

 by Cushman and figured by Parker and Jones, is 

 visible only when the specimen has been damaged, and 

 is not present in any stage of the development of the 

 test, as proved by dissection of specimens. The tiny 

 apertiu-al openings are visible only at high magnifica- 

 tion, but this apertm-al character and the radiating 

 papillae are both present in diflferent species, demon- 

 strating that they do not represent an abnormality. 

 The amount of ornamentation and the number and 

 size of the pores are variable characters. 



Concerning the ornamentation, Cushman considers 

 the lateral spines to be frequent, those of the prolocu- 

 lum rare. However, the spines of the proloculum 

 represent the rule, and the lateral spines, sometimes 

 modified into alar expansions, represent a specific 

 character, and may be absent altogether. As is under- 

 standable, no toothplate is present in this genus. 



The completely different apertural character as here 

 described proves that no relationship exists between 

 Bolivinella and the groups of Bolivinita and Bolivinitella. 



Genus Plectofrondicularia Liebus, 1903 



Plate 33, Figures 10,11 



Plectofrondicularia Liebus, Jahrb. Geol. Reichs., vol. 52, p. 

 76, 1903. 



Type species: Plectofrondicularia concava Liebus, 

 1903, Tertiary (upper glass sand) Promberger Schich- 

 ten?, from Probe 69, southeast of Heimberg bei Meis- 

 bach, Oberbayern, Germany. 



Diagnosis: Test elongate or frondicidarian, biserial 

 in the early stage, later uniserial, much compressed; 

 sutures limbate. Wall calcareous, smooth or longi- 

 tudinally costate; aperture terminal with an elliptical 

 margin, internally depressed and radially dentate: the 

 teeth are frequently anastomosed at the interior of the 

 aperture, which becomes reduced to one or more small, 

 irregularly distributed, elliptical openings. 



Discussion: No specimens of the type species were 

 available in the U. S. National Museum and the figm-es 

 given by Liebus show an incomplete specimen with an 

 early biserial stage. Nevertheless, Cushman describes 

 a planispiral early stage for the genus. An examination 

 of all specimens of other species of Pletojrondicularia in 

 the National Museum showed none with an early coiled 

 stage. In the elongate forms the biserial stage has a 

 Bolimna-]ik& arrangement; in the more enlarged species 

 (P. garzaensis Cushman and Siegfus) the first two or 

 three chambers embrace the proloculum. This arrange- 



ment, which must not be confused with a planispiral 

 development, is here illustrated. The third chamber 

 is then placed above the first two chambers, and is 

 followed by the symmetrical uniserial development of 

 the mature stage. 



The aperture was previously described only as ter- 

 minal, elliptical. The elliptical lip is easily visible and 

 may be rather well developed. The aperture is concave; 

 the lip is internally thickened, with a variable number 

 of radiating teeth which reach the center of the aperture 

 and may become anastomosed there, so that the aper- 

 ture is reduced to one or more small openings. No 

 internal tube or toothplate are present. This apertural 

 character is identical in different species (P. floridana, 

 P. calif ornica and P. garzaensis), so that it may be 

 considered a constant character of generic significance. 



The character of the aperture and the first stage of 

 the test both show a relationship to the completely 

 biserial Bolivinella, and demonstrate that there is no 

 relationship between these genera and the Heteroheli- 

 cidae, s. s. 



Glaessner (1945) placed Plectofrondicularia in his 

 superfamily Buliminidea, family Buliminidae, sub- 

 family Plectofrondiculariinae, and in this was followed 

 by Pokorny (1954). Sigal (1952) considered this genus 

 to belong to the Heterohelicidae, with Bolivinella. 

 The subfamily is here elevated to family status. 



Genus Amphimorphina Neugeboren, 1850 

 Plate 33, Figures 7-9 



Amphimorphina Neugeboren, Verb. Mitth. Siebenburgischer 



Ver. Naturw., vol. 1, p. 125, 1850. 

 Nodomorphina Cushman, Contr. Cushman Lab. Foram. Res., 



vol. 2, p. 80, 1927. 



Type species: Amphimorphina hauerina Neuge- 

 boren, 1850, Miocene, from Lapugy, Hungary. 



Diagnosis: Test elongate, more or less compressed 

 in the early stage, which is imiserial in the megalo- 

 spheric form and clearly biserial in the microspheric 

 form, including the six to ten early chambers. Cham- 

 bers frondicularian in the young stage, then may be 

 infiated; sutures limbate and centrally crossed by a 

 rather large lumen. Ornamentation longitudinal, 

 with more or less lamellate costae, situated near the 

 margins of the test. Aperture in the early stages con- 

 sists of grooves radiating from the center, and in the 

 later stages consists of 3 to 6 pores separated by the 

 converging ribs, which meet terminally. 



Discussion: The biseriality of the early stage of the 

 type species of Amphimorphina was not noted by 

 Neugeboren, although Cushman (1927, p. 63) stated 

 that the microspheric fonn "may show traces of the 

 biserial stage." 



There is nevertheless a clearly biserial early stage, 

 as shown in the figures. One specimen was observed 

 which has a single asymmetrical chamber following 

 the proloculum, that could be interpreted as a sub- 

 coiled stage, but in reality it is only an abnormal ac- 

 celerated increase giving rise immediately to a third 



