Pentadinium dababiyaense: A new organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst from the Upper Cretaceous, Dababiya, Egypt

Abstract Pentadinium dababiyaense is a new, organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst), described herein from Upper Cretaceous core material from the Dababiya borehole, Upper Nile Valley, Egypt. It is characterized by having a distinctive cavate apical horn and cavate sutural crests with lace-like perforations in the periphragm. The sutural crests, together with the precingular type P archeopyle indicate a gonyaulacoid tabulation. The species has a very short stratigraphic range within the latest Maastrichtian and may constitute a useful stratigraphic marker.