Ranina granulosa A. Milne Edwards 1872
Creators: name: Pasini, Giovanni
name: Garassino, Alessandro
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Malacostraca
Decapoda
Raninidae
Ranina
Ranina granulosa

description: ? Ranina granulosa A. Milne Edwards, 1872
Fig. 5
Ranina granulosa A. Milne Edwards, 1872: 5, 6, Pl. 8, fig. 1 (as granulata [sic] pag. 9 and caption Pl. 8).
Ranina granulosa - Glaessner 1929: 361. – De Angeli et al. 2009: 120. – Schweitzer et al. 2010: 74. – Van Bakel et al. 2012: 209. – Karasawa et al. 2014: 260.
Ranina granulata [sic] - Fabiani 1910: 91. – De Angeli & Beschin 2011: 13, 15.
Hela granulosa - Lőrenthey in Lőrenthey & Beurlen 1929: 109.
Type material: holotype, NHM I8085.
Type locality: unknown (probably Dax, Gironde, southwestern France).
Geological age: Paleogene (Eocene-?Oligocene).
Examined material: holotype.
Description by A. Milne Edwards (1872): “ Le bouclier cèphalothoracique de cette espèce est peu èlargi, et sous ce rapport differe beaucoup de celui du Ranina palmea Sism.; le bord antérieur est très-arqué en avant, et porte latéralement trois grosses dents dont on aperçoit la base, mais dont l’extrèmitè est brisée; en dedans de ces dents il existe deux lobes sous-orbitaires, séparés l’un de l’autre et de la dent interne par des scissures étroites et profondes; enfin, le front s’avance sur la ligne médiane en une petite pointe rostrale; la carapace est complétement dépourvue de lignes saillantes granuleuses, transversales et paralléles; on y remarque des tubercules petits, arrondis et disposes sans beucoup d’ordre; en dessous, l’écusson sternal est relativement petit; les pattes-mâchoires externes sont au contraire très-longues; les pattes antérieures et les pattes ambulatoires manquent complétament sur l’exemplaire que j’ai eu les mains.”
Literal translation: carapace with maximum widest anteriorly; anterior margin convex, bearing two stout incomplete anterolateral teeth of which only the base is preserved; two suborbital lobes, separated each other by the inner tooth and by a deep narrow fissures; a small pointed rostrum is present in the middle of the front; the carapace does not show transverse granulate rims; only small, rounded and sparse tubercles are present, more pronounced frontally; ventrally, the sternum is relatively small; outer maxillipeds very elongate; chelipeds and walking legs not preserved.
Discussion. Based upon the description by A. Milne Edwards (1872), the holotype does not preserve the distal portion of the rostrum and the tips of the anterolateral spines. Though the shape and dorsal ornamentation of the carapace fit the general characters of the Raninidae sensu stricto, the holotype lacks the main characters for its generic assignment. In conclusion, the inability to recognize the diagnostic characters of Ranina questions the placement of granulosa within this genus.
description: Published as part of Pasini, Giovanni & Garassino, Alessandro, 2017, A preliminary review of the fossil species of Ranina Lamarck, 1801 (Decapoda, Brachyura, Raninidae), with systematic remarks, pp. 43-72 in Natural History Sciences 4 (1) on pages 50-51, DOI: 10.4081/nhs.2017.310, http://zenodo.org/record/12753805