GNS Science Manual of New 
Zealand Permian to Pleistocene Foraminiferal Biostratigraphy


Key species of New Zealand fossil foraminifera:
descriptions from
“Manual of New Zealand Permian to Pleistocene Foraminiferal Biostratigraphy” by Hornibrook, Brazier and Strong, 1989



Introduction

Index to descriptions:

Permian foraminifera
Triassic and Jurassic foraminifera
Cretaceous planktic foraminifera
Cretaceous benthic foraminifera
Upper Cretaceous to Lower Paleocene benthic foraminifera (agglutinated forms)
Cenozoic planktic foraminifera
Cenozoic benthic foraminifera
Cenozoic large foraminifera

Citation

Search all or part of taxonomic name in this index page:

(4 or more characters, case sensitive)  


Introduction

This web-based guide to biostratigraphically important species of foraminifera has been extracted from the text of:

“Manual of New Zealand Permian to Pleistocene Foraminiferal Biostratigraphy”, by N. de B. Hornibrook, R. C. Brazier, and C.P. Strong (1989): New Zealand Geological Survey paleontological bulletin 56.

Illustrations of over 550 individual species have been scanned to enable convenient access alongside related descriptive text. Some of the descriptions include minor revisions or editorial changes. Please refer to the original Manual (still in print) for further background information, including additional references and explanations of terms. Other sources of information include:

Note on the original Manual:

Written both for students and foraminiferal specialists, the Manual is a guide to identifying and using key foraminiferal genera and species to interpret New Zealand’s biostratigraphy and paleoenvironments. It also summarises sampling procedures, curation, significant previous work, stratigraphic and biostratigraphic principles and the development New Zealand’s Cenozoic Stages. Emphasis is on the critical features for recognising taxa, rather than lengthy formal taxonomic descriptions. High quality illustrations amplify the verbal descriptions.

The Manual’s content closely reflects the nature of New Zealand’s foraminiferal record, with about 10% of the fossil illustrations and associated text dealing with Paleozoic and Mesozoic foraminifers, the remaining 90% with the Cenozoic species. Although late Paleozoic and Mesozoic foraminifera are found in New Zealand, these are typically “niche occurrences”, of mainly local significance. In the latest Cretaceous foraminiferal faunas start to become more diverse and prevalent, and relevant to regional studies. This trend grows during the Cenozoic, giving NZ the world-class, mid-latitude fauna to which the majority of the Manual is devoted.

In a very real sense, the Manual is a taonga marking the end of an era in New Zealand foraminiferal micropaleontology; an era built on the ground-breaking work, especially of H.J. Finlay. The Manual was Dr Hornibrook’s “retirement project”, and he could give it nearly undivided attention. Dr Hornibrook had a broad knowledge of New Zealand faunas, gained over many years both through his own research developing and refining the NZ Geological Timescale, and through collaboration with field geologists. Equally important were the fine foraminiferal drawings produced by Ron Brazier. It is very difficult to take useful photographs of foraminifera, especially benthic foraminifera, using either a conventional microscope or SEM. Key identification features are often poorly represented, whereas a paleontological artist could subtly emphasise them so that a user could look for them when examining a specimen.


Permian foraminifera

Triassic and Jurassic foraminifera

Cretaceous planktic foraminifera

Cretaceous benthic foraminifera

Upper Cretaceous to lower Paleocene benthic foraminifera (agglutinated forms)

Cenozoic planktic foraminifera

Cenozoic benthic foraminifera

Cenozoic large foraminifera


Cite this publication as: "Strong CP, Raine JI, Terezow M. 2018. Key species of New Zealand fossil foraminifera: descriptions from "Manual of New Zealand Permian to Pleistocene Foraminiferal Biostratigraphy" by Hornibrook, Brazier and Strong, 1989. Lower Hutt (NZ): GNS Science. (GNS Science miscellaneous series; 123)."
ISSN 1172-2886, ISBN 978-1-98-853088-8, DOI 10.21420/G2M63W.

This publication is © copyright in 2018 by GNS Science and is licenced for re-use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. Please note that this licence does not apply to any included logos, emblems or trade marks.