Re #1199 - 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 60710: 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
 Heterostropha - Architectonicidae
Architectonica kartseni sundial
Subspecies: A. (A.) nobilis karsteni and nobilis nobilis
Architectonica nobilis Röding 1798 sundial
 Cerithioidea - Cerithiidae
 Cerithioidea - Turritellidae
Turritella cf. venezuelana Hodson 1926 turret shell
Turritella matarucana Hodson 1926 turret shell
Turritella cocoditana Hodson 1926 turret shell
 Sorbeoconcha - Ficidae
Ficus carbasea Guppy 1866 fig shell
Subspecies: F. carbasea carbasea
 Sorbeoconcha - Bursidae
Bursa rugosa Sowerby 1835 frog shell
Subspecies: B. (C.) caelata amphitrites
 Sorbeoconcha - Eocypraeidae
"Marginocypraea wegeneri" = Sphaerocypraea wegeneri
"Marginocypraea wegeneri" = Sphaerocypraea wegeneri Schilder 1939 snail
 Neogastropoda - Marginellidae
Prunum (Prunum) quirosense Hodson 1927 margin shell
 Neogastropoda - Volutidae
Voluta vautrini Jung 1965 volute
 Neogastropoda - Olividae
"Oliva (Oliva) cf. cylindrica" = Oliva cylindrica
"Oliva (Oliva) cf. cylindrica" = Oliva cylindrica Sowerby 1850 olive snail
 Neogastropoda - Olivellidae
Agaronia testacea Lamarck 1811 snail
Subspecies: A. testacea costaricensis
 Neogastropoda - Melongenidae
Melongena melongena Linnaeus 1758 snail
Subspecies: M. melongena consors
 Neogastropoda - Buccinidae
 Neogastropoda - Fasciolariidae
 Neogastropoda - Drilliidae
 Neogastropoda - Borsoniidae
"Borsonia (Paraborsonia) cantaurana" = Paraborsonia
"Borsonia (Paraborsonia) cantaurana" = Paraborsonia snail
 Neogastropoda - Turridae
Polystira barretti Guppy 1866 turrid
 Neogastropoda - Terebridae
"Terebra (Strioterebrum) "sp C."" = Strioterebrum, "Terebra (Strioterebrum) ulloa" = Strioterebrum ulloa, Terebra (Paraterebra) sulcifera
"Terebra (Strioterebrum) "sp C."" = Strioterebrum Sacco 1891 auger snail
"Terebra (Strioterebrum) ulloa" = Strioterebrum ulloa Olsson 1932 auger snail
Terebra (Paraterebra) sulcifera Sowerby 1849 auger snail
 Neogastropoda - Conidae
Conus talis Jung 1965 cone shell
Conus aff. molis Brown and Pilsbry 1911 cone shell
 Neogastropoda - Cancellariidae
"Cancellaria (Charcolleria) terryi" = Massyla terryi
"Cancellaria (Charcolleria) terryi" = Massyla terryi Olsson 1942 snail
 Neogastropoda - Turbinellidae
Turbinella falconensis Hodson 1931 snail
 Neogastropoda - Costellariidae
Knefastia kugleri, "Knefastia aff. lavinoides" = Knefastia limonensis
Knefastia kugleri ribbed mitre
"Knefastia aff. lavinoides" = Knefastia limonensis Olsson 1922 ribbed mitre
 Sorbeoconcha - Naticidae
Neverita paraguanensis Hodson 1927 moon snail
Polinices nelsoni moon snail
Bivalvia
 Pholadida - Corbulidae
"Corbula (Caryocorbula) fortis" = Caryocorbula fortis
"Corbula (Caryocorbula) fortis" = Caryocorbula fortis Jung 1965 clam
 Cardiida - Mactridae
"Mactra (Micromactra) maracaibensis" = Mactrotoma
"Mactra (Micromactra) maracaibensis" = Mactrotoma surfclam
 Cardiida - Veneridae
Clementia (Clementia) dariena, "Cyclinella venezuelana" = Cyclinella cyclica, "Chione (Chionopsis) paraguanensis" = Chione (Chionopsis) tegulum, Pitar (Pitarella) paraguanensis
Clementia (Clementia) dariena Conrad 1855 venus clam
"Cyclinella venezuelana" = Cyclinella cyclica Guppy 1866 venus clam
"Chione (Chionopsis) paraguanensis" = Chione (Chionopsis) tegulum Brown and Pilsbry 1911 venus clam
 Cardiida - Tellinidae
"Psammacoma cf. falconensis" = Psammacoma gatunensis Toula 1909 tellin clam
Tellina (Eurytellina) paraguanensis Hodson 1931 tellin clam