Progress in the taxonomy of Late Cretaceous high-latitude radiolarians: insights from the Horton River area, Northwest Territories, Canada

Abstract

Radiolarians have proven to be exceptional tools in biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental studies despite their relatively low preservation potential in the sedimentary record. Reports of Upper Cretaceous radiolarians in high northern latitudes are scant, and their taxonomy is not often discussed in the few reports available in the literature. In this study, we describe one new genus and three new species of polycystine radiolarians from Upper Cretaceous strata of the northern mainland coast of Arctic Canada. The specimens were recovered from the Santonian–middle Campanian Smoking Hills Formation and the middle Campanian–Maastrichtian Mason River Formation and are assigned to the genus Canadasphaera n. gen. (Order Spumellaria) and the species Canadasphaera inuita n. sp., Kuppelella rusti n. sp., and Lithocampe? rara n. sp. The taxonomic notes provided in this study improve our understanding of Late Cretaceous radiolarians from high northern latitudes and serve as a foundation for future Cretaceous radiolarian research in Arctic regions. Canadasphaera: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C6B7B702-4B74-472D-8893-0A41B93A5066, date of registration: 19 April 2024 Canadasphaera inuita: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C30E555B-EE94-4680-87D1-5CE83E128461, date of registration: 19 April 2024 Kuppelella rusti: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:68ECB628-2E74-4748-ACA4-DD1A33B05837, date of registration: 19 April 2024 Lithocampe? rara: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:25E569B2-93A8-425F-BB7C-D29A0437763F, date of registration: 19 April 2024