Southwest of Santa Susana: Danian, California

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Anthozoa - Scleractinia - Flabellidae
Flabellum remondianum Gabb 1864
synonym of Flabellum cuneiforme
Chondrichthyes - Lamniformes - Carchariidae
Lamna clavata Agassiz 1856
recombined as Carcharias clavata
Gastropoda - Turritellidae
Turritella maccreadyi Waring 1914
synonym of Mesalia martinezensis
Turritella reversa n. sp. Waring 1917
Turritella pachecoensis Stanton 1896
Turritella simiensis n. sp. Waring 1917
synonym of Turritella pachecoensis
Gastropoda - Neogastropoda - Olividae
Olivella spissa n. sp. Waring 1917
Gastropoda - Neogastropoda - Volutidae
Lyria hannibali n. sp. Waring 1917
Retipirula crassitesta (Gabb 1869)
Gastropoda - Neogastropoda - Muricidae
Perissolax blakei (Conrad 1855)
    = Pseudoperissolax tricarnatus Weaver 1905
Squires 2015
Gastropoda - Neogastropoda - Harpidae
Ficus plectatus n. sp. Waring 1917
recombined as Oniscidia plectata
Gastropoda - Neogastropoda - Buccinidae
Pseudoliva howardi (Dickerson 1914)
recombined as Pegocomptus howardi
Brachysphingus sinuatus Gabb 1869
Gastropoda - Neogastropoda - Fasciolariidae
Trachytriton titan n. sp. Waring 1917
recombined as Saxituberosa titan
Gastropoda - Neogastropoda - Borsoniidae
Bathytoma boundeyi n. sp. Waring 1917
Gastropoda - Naticidae
Gyrodes robustus n. sp. Waring 1917
Amauropsis martinezensis Dickerson 1914
Sinum dickersoni n. sp. Waring 1917
synonym of Ampullina striata
Polynices hornii (Gabb 1864)
recombined as Polinices hornii
Gastropoda - Opisthobranchia - Cylichnidae
Cylichna costata Gabb 1864
recombined as Scaphander (Mirascapha) costatus
Gastropoda - Heterostropha - Acteonidae
Actaeon merriami n. sp. Waring 1917
Bivalvia - Nuculanida - Nuculanidae
Leda alaeformis (Gabb 1869)
recombined as Nuculana (Saccella) alaeformis
Leda gabbi (Conrad 1866)
recombined as Nuculana (Saccella) gabbii
Bivalvia - Carditida - Crassatellidae
Crassatellites branneri Waring 1914
recombined as Crassatella branneri
Crassatellites grandis Gabb 1864
synonym of Crassatella uvasana
Bivalvia - Carditida - Carditidae
Venericardia planicosta Lamarck 1801
recombined as Venericor planicosta
new subspecies venturensis
Bivalvia - Carditida - Astartidae
Opis virginalis n. sp. Waring 1917
Bivalvia - Lucinida - Lucinidae
Miltha parsonsi n. sp. Waring 1917
recombined as Miltha (Miltha) parsoni
Bivalvia - Pholadomyida - Pholadomyidae
Pholadomya nasuta Gabb 1864
Bivalvia - Solenida - Solenidae
Solen stantoni Weaver 1905
recombined as Solena (Eosolen) stantoni
Bivalvia - Cardiida - Veneridae
Macrocallista stantoni n. sp. Waring 1917
Bivalvia - Cardiida - Mactridae
Spisula aequilateralis n. sp. Waring 1917
recombined as Mactromeris aequilateralis
Bivalvia - Cardiida - Cardiidae
Cardium cooperii Gabb 1864
synonym of Nemocardium (Nemocardium) linteum
Bivalvia - Cardiida - Tellinidae
Tellina mathewsonii Gabb 1864
    = Tellinidae indet. Blainville 1814
Hendy 2020
Bivalvia - Cardiida - Psammobiidae
Psammobia hornii (Gabb 1864)
recombined as Gari (Gobraeus) hornii
Bivalvia - Pectinida - Limidae
Lima perrini n. sp. Waring 1914
synonym of Acesta (Plicacesta) haseltinei
Cephalopoda - Nautilida - Nautilidae
Nautilus hallidayi Waring 1914
recombined as Eutrephoceras hallidayi
Scaphopoda - Dentaliida - Dentaliidae
Dentalium cooperii Gabb 1864
corrected as Dentalium cooperi
Rhynchonellata - Terebratulida - Kingenidae
Kingena simiensis n. sp. Waring 1917
see common names

Geography
Country:United States State/province:California County:Ventura
Coordinates: 34.2° North, 118.7° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:39.2° North, 96.7° West
Basis of coordinate:estimated from map
Time
Period:Paleogene Epoch:Paleocene
Stage:Danian 10 m.y. bin:Cenozoic 1
Key time interval:Danian
Age range of interval:66.00000 - 61.60000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Formation:Las Virgenes
Stratigraphy comments: Originally described as "Martinez," but now belongs to Santa Susana Formation. Nautilids come from Zinsmeister's (1983) "assemblage A" which spans the lower three-quarters of the Santa Susana. Planktonic foraminifera suggest a P4 and P5 age (Heitman, 1983) and calcareous nannoplankton belong to zones CP5-CP8 (Filewicz & Hill, 1983), indicating a Thanetian age.

[Squires 2018] Waring (1917) listed the mollusks found at this locality and referred to them erroneously as ‘Martinez’ species of ‘early Eocene’ age. The type locality of O. plectata plots in upper lower Paleocene (upper Danian Stage) strata mapped as the Las Virgenes Sandstone (Squires, 1981).
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:bioturbation,fine sandstone
Environment:transition zone/lower shoreface
Geology comments: Locality is likely west of the Runkle Canyon Fault, in the western unit of Parker (1985). The lower unit of the western Santa Susana formation is interpreted as representing transition zone and offshore to shelf sedimentation. Modern deposits in the transition zone consist of bioturbated horizons alternating with parallel laminated horizons (Kumar and Sanders, 1976; Howard and Reineck, 1981). Offshore and shelf deposits are densely bioturbated with only remnant parallel laminae present (Reineck and Singh, 1980; Howard and Reineck, 1981). Shells and shell fragments occur in isolated pods and lenses and burrows are commonly filled with sediment (Howard and Reineck, 1981). These characteristics are present throughout most of the lower unit except in siltstone horizons which are pervasively fractured.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils
Collection methods and comments
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Museum repositories:CAS
Collection method comments: Leland Stanford Junior University Paleontology Collections, eventually transferred to the California Academy of Sciences
Metadata
Also known as:Locality 4 of Waring 1917; CAS loc. 61667; CAS loc. 61901; CAS loc. 61926; LSJU 4; LSJU loc. 2697
Database number:193035
Authorizer:J. Marcot, A. Hendy Enterer:J. Marcot, A. Hendy
Modifier:J. Marcot Research group:marine invertebrate
Created:2018-05-04 14:24:25 Last modified:2023-02-18 16:29:00
Access level:the public Released:2018-05-04 14:24:25
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
27071. C. A. Waring. 1917. Stratigraphic and faunal relations of the Martinez to the Chico and Tejon of Southern California. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 7(4):41-124 [L. Villier/L. Villier]

Secondary references:

63217 A. J. W. Hendy. 2020. Unpublished taxonomic backbone for Eastern Pacific Invertebrate Communities of the Cenozoic (EPICC) Thematic Collections Network. [A. Hendy/A. Hendy/A. Hendy]
83860 R. L. Squires. 2015. Northeast Pacific record of the Paleogene genus Pseudoperissolax (Neogastropoda: Muricidae: Muricinae) and its paleobiogeography. Journal of Paleontology 89(4):576-588 [J. Marcot/J. Marcot]
77955 R. L. Squires. 2018. First report of Oniscidia Mörch, 1852 (Neogastropoda, Harpidae) in the northeast Pacific fossil record and paleobiogeographic review of the genus. Journal of Paleontology 92(5):794-803 [J. Marcot/J. Marcot]
65473 C. A. Waring. 1914. Eocene Horizons of California. Journal of Geology 22(8):782-785 [J. Marcot/J. Marcot]
66330 W. J. Zinsmeister. 1983. New Late Paleocene molluscs from the Simi Hills, Ventura County, Califonia. Journal of Paleontology 57(6):1282-1303 [A. Hendy/A. Hendy]