Re #1155 - Cantaure Formation (Miocene of Venezuela)

Where: Falcon, Venezuela (11.9° N, 69.8° W: paleocoordinates 11.2° N, 66.6° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Cantaure Formation, Burdigalian (20.4 - 16.0 Ma)

• Clays, sandstone, and limestones of up to 75, thick, although no single section is completely exposed. Collection apparently derived from near middle part of that thickness. Overlies unconformably Cretaceous rocks and is conformably overlain by limestones on middle to upper Miocene. Jung (1965) regarded the collection as early Middle Miocene, though more recent authors, including Vermeij (2001) indicate an Early Miocene (Burdigalian) age. Formation formerly referred to as "Cerro Pelado".

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: coastal; unlithified, micaceous, shelly/skeletal, silty claystone

• Tropical shallow-water assemblage, neritic, no deep-water genera present, normal salinity, perhaps nearby brackish source.
• Clay, massive, micaceous, slightly silty, and locally containing abundant fossils.

Size class: macrofossils

Reposited in the BMNH, NMB, PRI, USNM

Collection methods: quarrying,

• All material is reposited in the Natural History Museum (NMB), Basel, Switzerland, with some voucher specimens in the British Museum, PRI, and USNM.

Primary reference: P. Jung. 1965. Miocene Mollusca from the Paraguana Peninsula, Venezuela. Bulletins of American Paleontology 49(223):389-652 [A. Miller/A. Hendy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 60708: authorized by Austin Hendy, entered by Austin Hendy on 20.05.2006

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Exhaustive for Bivalvia and Gastropoda. Balanus, corals, numerous otoliths, and Calianassa fragments are commonly found, though not listed.
Gastropoda
 Cerithioidea - Turritellidae
Turritella cocoditana Hodson 1926 turret shell
Turritella gilbertharrisi Hodson 1926 turret shell
 Neogastropoda - Buccinidae
Cymatophos paraguanensis Hodson and Hodson 1931 true whelk
 Neogastropoda - Fasciolariidae
 Neogastropoda - Conidae
Conus aristos cone shell
Conus talis Jung 1965 cone shell
 Neogastropoda - Terebridae
Terebra (Paraterebra) inaequalis, "Terebra (Strioterebrum) ulloa" = Strioterebrum ulloa
Terebra (Paraterebra) inaequalis Sowerby 1849 auger snail
"Terebra (Strioterebrum) ulloa" = Strioterebrum ulloa Olsson 1932 auger snail
 Neogastropoda - Costellariidae
Knefastia kugleri, "Knefastia aff. lavinoides" = Knefastia limonensis
Knefastia kugleri ribbed mitre
"Knefastia aff. lavinoides" = Knefastia limonensis Olsson 1922 ribbed mitre
 Neogastropoda - Marginellidae
Prunum (Prunum) quirosense Hodson 1927 margin shell
 Neogastropoda - Cystiscidae
Persicula lavelana1 Hodson 1927 snail
Subspecies: P. (R.) venezuelana lavelana
 Neogastropoda - Cancellariidae
Bivetiella dariena2 Toula 1908 snail
 Sorbeoconcha - Ficidae
Ficus carbasea Guppy 1866 fig shell
Subspecies: F. carbasea carbasea
 Sorbeoconcha - Eocypraeidae
"Marginocypraea wegeneri" = Sphaerocypraea wegeneri
"Marginocypraea wegeneri" = Sphaerocypraea wegeneri Schilder 1939 snail
 Sorbeoconcha - Naticidae
"Natica (Naticarius) canrena" = Naticarius canrena
"Natica (Naticarius) canrena" = Naticarius canrena Linnaeus 1758 moon snail
Subspecies: N. (N.) canrena antinacca
 Heterostropha - Pyramidellidae
 Heterostropha - Architectonicidae
"Architectonica (Architectonica) nobilis" = Architectonica nobilis
"Architectonica (Architectonica) nobilis" = Architectonica nobilis Röding 1798 sundial
Subspecies: A. (A.) nobilis nobilis
 Neritoidea - Neritidae
"Nerita (Nerita) fulgurans" = Nerita (Theliostyla) fulgurans
"Nerita (Nerita) fulgurans" = Nerita (Theliostyla) fulgurans Gmelin 1791 snail
Bivalvia
 Arcida - Noetiidae
Noetia dauleana Marks 1951 clam
Subspecies: N. dauleana paraguenensis
 Cardiida - Veneridae
Clementia (Clementia) dariena Conrad 1855 venus clam
 Cardiida - Tellinidae
"? Psammacoma cf. falconensis" = Psammacoma gatunensis
"? Psammacoma cf. falconensis" = Psammacoma gatunensis Toula 1909 tellin clam