The foraminiferal fauna of the Channa Kodi section at Padappakkara, Kerala, India

The early Miocene, Burdigalian foraminiferal fauna of the Channa Kodi section at Padappakkara, Kerala State, Southern India is described. The investigated beds belong to the Quilon Formation, yielding a rich tropical fauna of larger and smaller foraminifera. The assemblage shows a mixture of very shallow forms from a water depth between 10 and 30 m, and mainly smaller species from a 50 to 70 m depth habitat.The fauna has great similarities with those of the Malaysian archipelago and the West Pacific. Planktonic foraminifera indicate a biostratigraphic age of biozone M3 of Wade et al., Miogypsina globulina and Lepidosemicyclina thecideaeformis are indicative for middle Burdigalian. In the foraminiferal assemblage 149 species have been determined, including the new genus Paralachlanella and the new species Paralachlanella pilleri, Pseudomassilina quilonensis, Asterigerinella jonesi, and Brizalina keralensis.