Bispiraloconulus serbiacus gen. et sp. nov., a giant arborescent benthic foraminifer from the Berriasian of Serbia

A new benthic foraminifera is described as Bispiraloconulus serbiacus gen. et sp. nov. from Berriasian shallow-water carbonates of the Kurilovo area, eastern Serbia. Above all it is characterized by its centimeter-sized arborescent test. With the exception of its morphology, all other test characteristics are reported from Spiraloconulus Allemann & Schroeder (Aalenian-Berriasian) of the family Hauraniidae, subfamily Amijellinae. In the current classifications of the Foraminiferida, test morphology is considered an important criterion at the generic and subgeneric level. The morphology of Bispiraloconulus gen. nov. necessitates a suprageneric emdendation to include arborescent-shaped foraminifera that display an exoskeleton (subepidermal network). Besides Spiraloconulus, Bispiraloconulus gen. nov. can be compared with the Cretaceous branching genera Bireophax Bolli, Thomasinella Schlumberger, and Torremiroella Canerot & Brun.