Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 11, 2026

Orbitolina

Orbitolina is an extinct genus of foraminifera belonging to the order Textulariida and family Orbitolinidae. Fossils of this genus are widely found in beds deposited in the Tethys Ocean ranging from Aptian to Cenomanian in age. It has been used as a shallow carbonate platform facies marker and as a Cretaceous index fossil.

Last revised
Jul 11, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
241 w
Citations
8
Source
Orbitolina
Temporal range: Aptian-Cenomanian
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Sar
Clade: Rhizaria
Phylum: Foraminifera
Class: Globothalamea
Order: Textulariida
Family: Orbitolinidae
Subfamily: Orbitolininae
Genus: Orbitolina
Lamarck 1816
Species

Orbitolina concava Lamarck, 18161
Orbitolina discoideaconoidea Gras, 18522
Orbitolina lenticulata Lamarck, 18163

Orbitolina is an extinct genus of foraminifera belonging to the order Textulariida and family Orbitolinidae. Fossils of this genus are widely found in beds deposited in the Tethys Ocean ranging from Aptian (early Cretaceous)4 to Cenomanian (early Late Cretaceous) in age.3 It has been used as a shallow carbonate platform facies marker4 and as a Cretaceous index fossil.3

The test of the organism has the shape of a cone, with the proloculus (initial chamber) at the apex of the cone and increasingly large cuplike chambers forming the remainder of the test. Each chamber is further subdivided by numerous partitions.3

References

References

  1. Schlagintweit, F.; Wagreich, M. (2005). "Micropaleontology of "Orbitolina Beds" of Lower Austria (Branderfleck Formation, Lower Cenomanian)" (PDF). Jahbruch der Geologischen Bundenstalt. 145 (1): 115–125. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  2. Buckman, J. O. (March 1997). "An unusual new trace fossil from the Lower Carboniferous of Ireland: Intexalvichnus magnus". Journal of Paleontology. 71 (2): 316–324. doi:10.1017/S0022336000039226.
  3. Douglass, R.C. (1960). "The Foraminiferal Genus Orbitolina in North America". United States Geological Survey Professional Paper. Professional Paper. 333. doi:10.3133/pp333.
  4. Vilas, Lorenzo; Masse, Jean Pierre; Arias, Consuelo (December 1995). "Orbitolina episodes in carbonate platform evolution: the early Aptian model from SE Spain" (PDF). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 119 (1–2): 35–45. Bibcode:1995PPP...119...35V. doi:10.1016/0031-0182(95)00058-5.