New Foraminifera from the Lower Silurian Qusaiba Shale Formation of Saudi Arabia

Eight new species of agglutinated foraminifera are described from the Lower Silurian Qusaiba Shale Formation of the Qalibah Group in central Saudi Arabia. The new species are found in an assemblage consisting entirely of agglutinated foraminifera dominated by monothalamids. The following genus and species are here described as new: Saccamminita galinae n. gen., n. sp., Hyperammina sinuosa, n. sp., Thuramminoides plummerae, n. sp., Thurammina holcovae, n. sp., Thurammina pentagona, n. sp., Ceratammina sp. 1., Ammobaculites qusaibaensis, n. sp. and Simobaculites sp. 1. Our finding of rare multichambered forms (Ammobaculites and Simobaculites) in the Qusaiba Shale Formation revises the early evolutionary history of these genera.