Critical examination of the genera Favulina, Homalohedra, Oolina, Entosolenia and Pseudofavulina n. gen. from Pliocene and Plio-Pleistocene of Western France and South England

International audienceThe examination of 19 species of unilocular foraminifera recovered from Pliocene and lower Pleistocene shore deposits from West of France, Cornwall and Essex (United Kingdom) allows a new description of genera Favulina Patterson & Richardson, 1988, Homalohedra Patterson & Richardson, 1988, Oolina d'Orbigny, 1839. The authors diagnosis and descriptions show large confusion due to the presence of an entosolenian tube. Genus Entosolenia Williamson, 1848 is rehabilitated in agreement with Knight (1986) and a new genus Pseudofavulina n. gen. is proposed. Study of external and internal structure of Favulina hexagona (Williamson, 1848), Favulina squamosa (Montagu, 1803), Homalohedra? williamsoni (Alcock, 1865), Homalohedra? sp., Oolina barkeri n. sp., Oolina falsoscalariformis n. sp., Oolina sulcata (Terquem, 1876) permits to distinguish presence of a ring at the proximal end of the apertural channel (endoanulus) and for Entosolenia charlesensis (McCulloch, 1977), Entosolenia communis (McCulloch, 1977), Entosolenia costata Williamson, 1858, Entosolenia foveolata (Seguenza, 1862), Entosolenia intermillerelineata n. sp., Entosolenia lineata Williamson, 1848, Entosolenia micans (Buchner, 1940), Entosolenia sp., Pseudofavulina catenulata (Jeffreys, 1848), n. comb., Pseudofavulina scalariformis (Williamson, 1848), n. comb., Pseudofavulina colubrosacosta (Loeblich & Tappan, 1994), n. comb. occurrence of endosolen.These species are placed in the improved subfamily Oolininae Loeblich & Tappan, 1961. The designation of a type species of Favulina hexagona by Patterson & Richardson (1988) and the various apertural structure of the genus Favulina described in this work are discussed. The new species Oolina barkeri n. sp. is described. A synoptic table summarizes characters of the species. Contents of genus Favulina and synonymy of genera Homalohedra and Oolina are debated. To conclude, it's necessary to take into account the outer and inner structure to obtain a significant systematic