Oeningen (unspecified coll) (Miocene of Germany)

Where: Baden-Württemberg, Germany (47.7° N, 8.9° E: paleocoordinates 47.9° N, 7.8° E)

• coordinate based on political unit

When: MN 7 mammal zone, Upper Oehningen beds Member (Upper Freshwater-Molasse Formation), Sarmatian (12.7 - 11.6 Ma)

Environment/lithology: lacustrine - large; lithified limestone

• "Rising into massive mountains, as in the well-known Righi and Rossberg, they attain a thickness of more than 6000 feet. While they include proofs of the presenceof the sea, they have preserved with marvellous perfection a large number of the plants which clothed the Alps, and of the insects which flitted through the woodlands. They form part of a great series of deposits which have been termed “Molasse” by the Swiss geologists...By far the larger portion of these strata is of lacustrine origin. They must have been formed in a large lake, the area of which probably underwent gradual subsidence during the period of deposition, until in Miocene times the sea once more overflowed the area. We may form some idea of the importance of the lake from the fact already stated, that the deposits formed in its waters are upwards of 6000 feet thick. Thanks to the untiring labours of Professor Heer, We know more of the vegetation of the mountains round that lake during Oligocene and Miocene time than we do of that of any other ancient geological period. " Geikie, 1882

•"...deposited in the Northern Alpine Foreland basin..." Uhl et al., 2006

• "limestone" (Noble 1928)

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: adpression

Primary reference: O. Heer. 1849. Die Insektenfauna der Tertiärgebilde von Oeningen und von Radoboj in Croatien. Zweiter Theil: Henschrecken, Florfliegen, Aderflügler, Schmetterlinge und Fliegen 1-264 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 113695: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Jered Karr on 04.08.2011, edited by Matthew Clapham

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Insecta
 Hemiptera -
Nepa atavina n. sp.2
Nepa atavina n. sp.2 Heer 1853 true bug
 Hemiptera - Cydnidae
"Cydnopsis tertiaria" = Cydnus tertiarius2
"Cydnopsis tertiaria" = Cydnus tertiarius2 Heer 1853 burrowing bug
 Hymenoptera - Formicidae
"Myrmica rugiceps n. sp." = Carebara rugiceps, "Myrmica tertiaria" = Paraphaenogaster tertiaria, Myrmica macrocephala n. sp., Myrmica molassica n. sp., Formica lavateri n. sp., Formica immersa n. sp., Formica primitiva n. sp., Formica primordialis n. sp., Formica seuberti n. sp.
"Myrmica rugiceps n. sp." = Carebara rugiceps Heer 1849 ant
"Myrmica tertiaria" = Paraphaenogaster tertiaria Heer 1849 ant
ssp. oeningensis
Myrmica macrocephala n. sp. Heer 1849 ant
Myrmica molassica n. sp. Heer 1849 ant
Formica lavateri n. sp. Heer 1849 ant
Formica immersa n. sp. Heer 1849 ant
Formica primitiva n. sp. Heer 1849 ant
Formica primordialis n. sp. Heer 1849 ant
Includes four tentative
Formica seuberti n. sp. Heer 1849 ant
20 incomplete and tentative
 Coleoptera - Attelabidae
"Rhynchites silenus n. sp." = Paleauletobius silenus1
"Rhynchites silenus n. sp." = Paleauletobius silenus1 Heer 1847 leaf rolling weevil
 Coleoptera - Curculionidae
Cleonus leucosiae n. sp.1 Heer 1847 snout beetle
questionably from Oeningen
 Coleoptera - Scarabaeidae
Melolonthites obsoleta n. sp.1 Heer 1847 scarab beetle
 Coleoptera - Cantharidae
"Telephorus tertiarius" = Rhagonycha (Rhagonycha) tertiaria1
"Telephorus tertiarius" = Rhagonycha (Rhagonycha) tertiaria1 Heer 1847 soldier beetle
ssp. oeningensis
 Trichoptera -
""Phryganea" antiqua n. sp." = Terrindusia antiqua
""Phryganea" antiqua n. sp." = Terrindusia antiqua Heer 1849 caddisfly
larva
 Orthoptera - Acrididae
Acrididae indet.4, "Scyllina oeningensis" = Oedipoda oeningensis3
Acrididae indet.4 Latreille 1802 short-horned grasshopper
"Scyllina oeningensis" = Oedipoda oeningensis3 Heer 1849 short-horned grasshopper
 Odonata - Lestidae
"Agrion (Lestes) peisinoe n. sp." = Lestes peisinoe, "Agrion (Lestes) ligea n. sp." = Lestes ligea
"Agrion (Lestes) peisinoe n. sp." = Lestes peisinoe Heer 1849 spread-winged damselfly
"Agrion (Lestes) ligea n. sp." = Lestes ligea Heer 1849 spread-winged damselfly