Article: Taxonomic problems in the study of coccoliths [The Eleventh Annual Address, delivered 6 March 1968]

From a review of Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Recent coccolithophorid and discoaster material, it is suggested that the abrupt appearance of some complex forms, hitherto difficult to classify, may be explained by mineralization of already existing unmineralized stocks; it also seems likely that some living un-mineralized forms may have fossil mineralized ancestors. Some recent work on uncalcified Haptophyceae reveals interesting parallels with the coccolithophorids. One new family, Stephanolithiaceae, is erected, and four specific names are recorded in new combination.