Póvoa de Santarém (Miocene of Portugal)

Also known as Bassin du Tage, Tagus basin, Tagus' basin, Tagus'

Where: Santarém, Portugal (39.3° N, 8.7° W: paleocoordinates 39.4° N, 9.8° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: MN 6 (13.7 - 12.8 Ma)

• The fossiliferous layer comes from approximately 10 meters below the surface. The presence of Anchitherium and absence of Hipparion excludes an Upper Miocene age. "..Megacricetodon crusafonti, Fahlbuschia darocensis, Cricetodon jotae are characteristic of mammalian MN6 unit, thus their ageis is nearly that of Sansan and Manchones (however the presence of Peridyromys hamadryas and Lagopsis verus do suggest, amidst this biozone, a somewhat later age than Sansan's).."

•Indirect correlation with marine formations, underlying oyster-bearing beds most probably in correspondance to the apogee of the same transgression that deposed near Lisbon "schlier" facies from VI-a division division (Serravalian, Blow's zones 10-13, Globorotalia meyeri zone).

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: pond; lignite and mudstone

• Lignite suggests marsh/stagnant pond in the vicinity of a river or ?oxbow (reference is to dead arms "des bras morts). Differing biozones are cited for original habitats of specific taxa, including savannah and forest invironments.
• lignitic mudstone

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils, microfossils

Collection methods: core, sieve,

• In the collections of the Centro de Estratigrafia e Paleobiologia das Universidades de Lisboa.

•The intial report on the lignitic clays is from a report on the geology, "Servico de Fomento Mineiro" M. Valdemiro B. Pereira, M. G. Zbyszewski the bone fragments. Antunes and Mein collected additional sediment, that was subsequently "washed" to recover the fossils.

Primary reference: M. T. Antunes and P. Mein. 1977. Contributions à la paléontologie du Miocène moyen continental du Bassin du Tage, III; Mammifères - Póvoa de Santarém, Pero Filho et Chões (Secorio), Conclusions générales. [Paleontology of the continental middle Miocene of the Tagus Basin, III; Mammals - Póvoa de Santarém, Pero Filho et Chões (Secorio), General Conclusions. Ciencias de Terra (UNL) (3)143-165 [J. Alroy/R. Whatley/J. Head]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 38137: authorized by John Alroy, entered by Robin Whatley on 13.04.2004

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• r = rare

•c = common

•a = abundant

unclassified
  -
Plantae indet. Haeckel 1866
Pollen (diverse)
Plantae indet. Haeckel 1866
stems and wood
Angiospermae
 Sapindales - Rutaceae
Toddalia maii citrus
Authority is Gregor.
 Fagales - Myricaceae
Myrica cericiformis bayberry
Authority is Kownas.
 Vitales - Vitaceae
Vitis sp. Linnaeus 1753 grapevine
 Nymphaeales - Nymphaeaceae
cf. Nuphar sp. Smith 1809 water lily
 Ranunculales - Ranunculaceae
cf. Ranunculus sp. Linnaeus 1753 buttercup
 Zingiberales - Zingiberaceae
Spirematospermum wetzleri Heer 1925
Authority is "(Heer)".
 Typhales - Commelinidae
Sparganium sp. Linnaeus 1753 bur-reed
 Alismatales - Hydrocharitaceae
Stratiotes kaltennordheimensis
Authority is "(Zenker)".
Pinopsida
 Pinales - Pinaceae
? Picea sp. Dietrich 1824 spruce
 Charales - Characeae
Characeae sp. Agardh 1824
unclassified
  -
"Metazoa indet." = Animalia
"Metazoa indet." = Animalia Linnaeus 1758
coprolites
Gastropoda
 Sorbeoconcha - Bithyniidae
Bithynia sp. Leach 1818 snail
(opercules)
 Heterostropha - Planorbidae
Planorbis sp. Muller 1774 snail
(apex)
 Stylommatophora - Testacellidae
Testacella sp. Draparnaud 1801 slug
 Stylommatophora - Limacidae
Limax sp. Linnaeus 1758 slug
(limacelles)
 Neritoidea - Neritidae
Theodoxus sp. Monfort 1810 snail
Bivalvia
 Cardiida - Sphaeriidae
Pisidium sp. Pfeiffer 1821 pea clam
 Unionida - Unionidae
cf. Unio ribeiroi freshwater mussel
Authority is Fontannes.
Mammalia
 Rodentia - Gliridae
Pseudodryomys sp. de Bruijn 1966 dormouse
Peridyromys hamadryas Major 1899 dormouse
"Paraglis astaracensis" = Bransatoglis astaracensis Baudelot 1970 dormouse
Glirudinus sp. de Bruijn 1966 dormouse
 Rodentia - Sciuridae
Spermophilinus bredai von Meyer 1848 squirrel
Miopetaurista gaillardi Mein 1970 squirrel
Heteroxerus grivensis Major 1893 squirrel
 Rodentia - Castoridae
Euroxenomys minutus von Meyer 1838 beaver
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Megacricetodon crusafonti Freudenthal 1963 mouse
Cricetodon sp. Lartet 1851 mouse
Cricetodon jotae Mein and Freudenthal 1971 mouse
Fahlbuschia darocensis Freudenthal 1963 mouse
 Lagomorpha - Ochotonidae
Lagopsis verus Hensel 1856 pika
Prolagus oeningensis König 1825 pika
 Theriamorpha - Erinaceidae
Galerix cf. socialis von Meyer 1865 hedgehog
 Theriamorpha - Soricidae
Miosorex grivensis Depéret 1892 shrew
 Chiroptera - Vespertilionidae
Eptesicus campanensis Baudelot 1970 house bat
 Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
Rhinocerotidae indet. Gray 1821 rhinoceros
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Anchitherium aurelianense Cuvier 1825 anchitheriine horse
 Artiodactyla - Cervidae
Cervidae indet. Gray 1821 deer
 Proboscidea - Gomphotheriidae
Gomphotheriidae indet. Hay 1922 gomphothere
"Mastodonte indet."
Reptilia
 Testudines - Trionychidae
Trionyx sp. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1809 softshell turtle
 Squamata -
Squamata indet. squamates
Actinopteri
 Cypriniformes - Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae indet. Rafinesque 1815 carp-like fish
Leuciscus antunesi n. sp. carp-like fish
 Life -
Limnaea sp. Lamarck 1799
(apex)