The Planorbulinacea are a superfamily of
rotalliid foraminifera
Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular Ectoplasm (cell biology), ectoplasm for catching food and ot ...
that has been extant since the Early Cretaceous (
Berriasian
In the geological timescale, the Berriasian is an age/stage of the Early/Lower Cretaceous. It is the oldest subdivision in the entire Cretaceous. It has been taken to span the time between 145.0 ± 4.0 Ma and 139.8 ± 3.0 Ma (million years ago) ...
), characterized by trochospiral tests, at least in early stage but which later may become uncoiled. The test wall is of perforate hyaline calcite, commonly optically radial in structure, with crystallographic c-axes perpendicular to the surface. The apertural face may be imperforate; the aperture interiomarginal and extraumbilical-umbilical to nearly equatorial in coiled forms, subterminal in uncoiled forms.
The Planorbulinacea unite six families which are distinguished primarily by their morphological differences.
References
*
Planorublinacea Loeblich &
Tappan, 1988.
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7201437
Foraminifera superfamilies
Rotaliida