DZIRULINA (BRACHIOPODA, TEREBRATELLIDINA) FROM CALIFORNIA, USA - ADDITIONAL RECORD OF AN EARLY CRETACEOUS TRANSATLANTIC BRACHIOPOD GENUS

Investigation of specimens of ''Terebratella'' ovula Anderson, 1938 fr om the upper Lower Albian Upper Chickabally Member of the Budden Canyo n Formation, Great Valley Group, California has allowed the examinatio n of the species' internal structures by serial sectioning. ''Terebrat ella'' ovula Anderson is now referred to the genus Dzirulina Noutsoubi dze, 1945. The stratigraphic range of the genus is extended from the H auterivian-Aptian to the Albian. The geographic range of Dzirulina is increased from central and western Europe, the Caucasus and Georgia of eastern Europe, and northern Zululand, Africa to now include northern California, North America. This represents an additional record of an Early Cretaceous brachiopod genus with a low-latitude, transatlantic distribution, most probably related to dispersal across the opening Ce ntral Atlantic Ocean.