Rhaetina Waagen 1882

MACFARLAN, DONALD ALEXANDER BANKIER, 2023, Otapirian (Rhaetian) Terebratulida (Brachiopoda) of Zealandia, Zootaxa 5374 (1), pp. 1-34 : 13

Rhaetina Waagen 1882

1882 Rhaetina Waagen , p.334.

1965a Rhaetina Waagen, 1882 ; Muir-Wood p. 769.

1977 Rhaetina Waagen, 1882 ; Pearson, p. 35.

2006 Rhaetina Waagen, 1882 ; Jin et al. p. 2050.

Type species Terebratula gregaria Suess, 1854 . OD.

The genus Rhaetina Waagen, 1882 is widely recognised in the Late Triassic of central and eastern Europe ( Pearson 1977, Siblík 1999, Siblík and Bryda 2005, Michalik 1975). Pearson (1977) commented that the type species Rhaetina gregaria was “without doubt the commonest and most widely distributed of the Rhaetian brachiopods” (p. 38). It has also been recorded from western North America ( Ager and Westermann 1963, Sandy and Stanley 1993), Iran (Kristin-Tollmann et al. 1979), China ( Yang and Xu 1966, Jin et al. 1976, Sun et al. 2017), Turkey ( Bittner 1891, Ager et al. 1978), central and eastern Asia ( Dagys 1963, 1974) and Vietnam ( Khuc 2000). Rhaetina is also present in the European Early Jurassic ( Pearson 1977).

Rhaetina has not previously been recognised in Zealandia . It is characterised by a large suberect beak, with a large foramen and well-developed pedicle collar. It often shows considerable variability in shape, size and anterior folding ( Pearson 1977, Sandy and Stanley 1993) and can occur in large numbers ( Michalik 1975, Pearson 1977).

While the loop details of the Zealandian form have not been seen, it agrees with Rhaetina in shape, and in the development of folding. Like other species of Rhaetina it is variable in shape, and occurs in large numbers at a few localities.