Pullenia quinqueloba

Pullenia quinqueloba

(Reuss, 1851)

Common name Foraminifer
Fossil group Foraminifera
Order Rotaliida
Family Nonionidae
Genus Pullenia
Taxonomic status Accepted
Geological age Ypresian

Summary

Pullenia quinqueloba was a small benthic foraminifer with an involute, multi-chambered calcitic test. It lived in the sea-floor ecosystem and fed by extending pseudopodia from its aperture to collect fine organic particles and microbes.

The organism itself was a single cell, but the fossil is its microscopic test. In the 2026 Hampshire Basin study this taxon occurs within the London Clay Formation assemblage used to construct the first foraminiferal zonation of the formation.

Quick Identification

Look for: a compact, nearly spherical to lenticular planispiral test with about five conspicuous inflated lobes/chambers around the final whorl.

Diagnostic Features

  • Test compact, involute and planispiral.
  • Final whorl is dominated by approximately five inflated chambers, giving a five-lobed outline.
  • Periphery is broadly rounded and lacks a sharp keel.
  • Sutures are depressed between the inflated chambers.
  • Aperture lies at the base of the final chamber along the interiomarginal region.

Fossil Details

Typical size
Microscopic; generally sub-millimetric.
Fossil material
Foraminiferal Test
Preservation
London Clay foraminiferal tests may be etched, crushed, stained or filled with matrix, and the 2026 study notes poorer preservation in parts of the succession. Fine apertural and sutural characters can disappear with corrosion; incomplete tests should be left at genus or higher rank.

Similar Species

Recorded Fossil Sites

References

  • Hart, M. B.; Alex-Sanders, M. E. A.; Smart, C. W. (2026). Can the distribution of foraminifera locate the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO) and Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) events in the Eocene succession of the Isle of Wight (UK)?. Journal of Micropalaeontology, 45(1), 315–334 View reference
Last Reviewed
20 August 2026 Reviewed by Sam Harris