Talpinella cunicularia n. gen., n. sp., a possible foraminiferal parasite of Late Cretaceous Orbitoides

Most specimens of the larger foraminiferal genus Orbitoides collected from the type Campanian and the lower Maastrichtian of Aubeterre (Charente, South­ west France) show tunnels as traces of boring activity. An anomalinid foraminifer, Talpinella cunicularia, n. gen., n. sp., is frequently found enclosed within the orbitoids and seems to be responsible for the tunnels. The species which is herein formally described must have lived and grown within the test of the orbitoid during most of its lifespan and may have been a parasite, although a "hermitic" mode of life is an alter native interpretation. The species settled in Orbitoides as a normal Anomalinoides-like juvenile and subse quently grew out irregularly.