Where: Belgium (51.3° N, 4.3° E: paleocoordinates 51.4° N, 4.0° E)

• coordinate stated in text

When: Kruisschans Sands Member (Lillo Formation), Piacenzian (3.6 - 2.6 Ma)

• Based on data associated to the neurocranium RBINS M. 879a-f, Misonne (1958) indicated an origin in the Kruisschans Sands (“Sables du Kruisschans;” Fig. 2) in the “zone a` Cardium,” and a Merksemian (“Merxemien”) stage, a stage assignation later confirmed by Plisnier-Ladame & Quinet (1969). Now disused, this regional stage was first introduced by Heinzelin (1955a), including the Kruisschans Sands and Merksem Sands, together with an underlying gravel layer (Laga, Louwye & Mostaert, 2006). Both the Kruisschans Sands Member and Merksem Sands Member are now part of the Lillo Formation, constituting its two youngest members (Vandenberghe et al., 1998; Laga, Louwye & Mostaert, 2006). Dinoflagellate cysts from a section 4 km north to the Kruisschans locks give a Piacenzian (Late Pliocene) age to both the Kruisschans Sands Member and the overlying Merksem Sands Member, older than 2.6 Ma (as confirmed by pollens) and most likely somewhat younger than 3.7 Ma (age of the base of the Lillo Formation), whereas sequence stratigraphy narrows even more their temporal range to 3.2–2.8 Ma (De Schepper, Head & Louwye, 2009). RBINS M. 879a-f is therefore proposed to date from that Piacenzian interval.(Bisconti et al., 2017)

• member-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: coastal; sandstone

Size class: macrofossils

Primary reference: F. Plisnier-Ladame and G. E. Quinet. 1969. Balaena belgica Abel 1938, Cetace du Merexemien d'Anvers. Bulletin de l’Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique 45(3):1-6 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 184445: authorized by Mark Uhen, entered by Mark Uhen on 28.02.2017

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)