Aix-en-Provence (Aix Museum Coll) (Oligocene of France)

Where: Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France (43.5° N, 5.5° E: paleocoordinates 43.3° N, 2.8° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Niveau du gypse d'Aix Formation, Chattian (28.1 - 23.0 Ma)

• "The ‘insect formation’ is 2.5 m thick, divided in two parts that correspond to two very different environmental conditions. The first (lower) episode is remarkable by its lateral monotony of facies on a distance of 6 km at least, in the outcrops observed on the northwest of Aix-en-Provence. This lower episode is distinguished from the rest of the ‘insect formation’ and from the whole formation of Aix-en-Provence by the presence of a very numerous thin limestone laminae. The second (upper) episode is remarkable by the presence of many silici- fied laminae. The fauna in this level is also very well preserved"….This collection consists of unspecified layers

Environment/lithology: lacustrine - large; lithified limestone

• This lacustrine formation was deposited in a very large but shallow-water lake, with variable salinity and near the marine coast (Nury 1990, Nury & Thomassin 1994). Irregular basins formed during extension of the European platform in the Oligocene resulting from the formation of the West-European rift system.
• The deposit presents an alternation of limestone and marls with gypsum.

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Preservation: mold/impression, adpression

Collection methods: Museum Aix

Primary reference: F. Meunier. 1914. Nouvelles recherches sur quelques Insectes du Sannoisien D' Aix-en-Provence. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, Quatrième Série 14:187-198 [M. Clapham/J. Karr/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 122489: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Jered Karr on 31.12.2011, edited by Matthew Clapham

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• "This formation has yielded a diverse flora and fauna, with finely preserved fossils. The flora is represented by numerous plant remains (pollen, roots, wood, stems, leaves, seeds and flowers). The fauna of vertebrates is represented by abundant fishes (GAUDANT 1978), and some frogs, birds, and bats with preserved skin outlines. Some invertebrates are perfectly preserved, including jellyfish and shells of aquatic molluscs with original colors and ornamentations (NEL et al. 1987). Aquatic and terrestrial arthropods (insects and arachnids) are very diverse and frequently well preserved….

•In spite of this, aquatic insects remain comparatively rare among the 30,000 fossil insects one of us (A.N.) collected at the locality."

Show authors, comments, and common names
Insecta
  -
Velia bouatia n. sp.
Velia bouatia n. sp. Meunier 1914 insect
many specimens on same piece of shale
 Coleoptera - Curculionidae
Hipporhinus heerii3
Hipporhinus heerii3 Germar 1849 snout beetle
At Faculte des Science d'Aix
 Blattodea - Termitidae
Termes siruguei n. sp.2
Termes siruguei n. sp.2 Nel 1984 termite
 Diptera - Tipulidae
Tipula bouati n. sp.1
Tipula bouati n. sp.1 Meunier 1915 crane fly
1Meunier 1915; 2Nel 1984; 3Oustalet 1874