RR 120 - Courbaril Member, Point Courbaril (Pliocene of Trinidad and Tobago)

Where: Trinidad and Tobago (10.2° N, 61.6° W: paleocoordinates 10.2° N, 60.9° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Courbaril Member (Morne l'Enfer Formation), Early/Lower Pliocene (5.3 - 3.6 Ma)

• Collection is from the Courbaril Sand and Clay Member of the Upper Morne l'Enfer Formation. The Courbaril fauna is considered to be of early Pliocene age and is probably slightly older than the Matura fauna.

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: shoreface; poorly lithified sandstone and claystone

• The assemblage as a whole points to a nearshore environment, with some brackish influence (compared with Melajo Clay assemblages).
• Poor reporting of lithologies. Named as the "Courbaril Sand and Clay Member", so these lithologies are assigned.

Size class: macrofossils

Reposited in the PRI, USNM

Collection methods: quarrying,

• All material descibed in this report is reposited in the Naturhistorisches Mueum, Basel, or the USNM. Additional material collection from this unit is found at PRI.

Primary reference: P. Jung. 1969. Miocene and Pliocene mollusks from Trinidad. Bulletins of American Paleontology 55(247):293-697 [A. Miller/A. Hendy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 60654: authorized by Austin Hendy, entered by Austin Hendy on 19.05.2006

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Exhaustive for Mollusca. Crab claws, corals, fish teeth, and scarce foraminifera also exist in the unit, though are not listed. Van de Bold (1963) also lists ostracords from several localities.
Gastropoda
 Neogastropoda - Muricidae
Thais (Stramonita) cf. haemostoma Linnaeus 1767 murex snail
Risomurex galbensis murex snail
Bivalvia
 Nuculanida - Nuculanidae
"Nuculana (Saccella) ludificans" = Saccella
"Nuculana (Saccella) ludificans" = Saccella pointed nut clam
 Carditida - Crassatellidae
Crassinella guppyi Dall 1896 clam
 Lucinida - Lucinidae
 Cardiida - Veneridae
"Chione (Lirophora) sanctidavidis" = Lirophora, Chione (Nioche) veatchiana
"Chione (Lirophora) sanctidavidis" = Lirophora venus clam
Chione (Nioche) veatchiana Maury 1912 venus clam
 Cardiida - Cardiidae
"Trigoniocardia (Trigoniocardia) cf. caboblanquensis" = Trigoniocardia (Apiocardia) antillarum, Trigoniocardia (Trigoniocardia) maturensis
"Trigoniocardia (Trigoniocardia) cf. caboblanquensis" = Trigoniocardia (Apiocardia) antillarum d'Orbigny 1853 cockle
 Cardiida - Semelidae
Abra cf. aequalis Say 1822 abra
 Cardiida - Tellinidae
Eurytellina punicea Born 1778 tellin clam
 Cardiida - Donacidae
 Arcida - Arcidae