Aix-en-Provence (Inst. Geol. Strasbourg) (Oligocene of France)

Where: Bouches-Du-Rhone, 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 mo- notony 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: specimens in Inst. Geol. Strasbourg

Primary reference: N. Theobald. 1937. Les insectes fossiles des terrains oligocènes de France. Bulletin Mensuel (Mémoires) de la Société des Sciences de Nancy 1:1-473 [M. Clapham/J. Karr]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 122511: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Jered Karr on 01.01.2012, edited by Matthew Clapham

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Insecta
 Diptera - Bibionidae
Plecia livida, "Plecia elegans" = Plecia bucklandi
Plecia livida Heer 1849 love bug
AS 1, 2
"Plecia elegans" = Plecia bucklandi Heer 1849 love bug
AS 4 (four individuals on same piece of shale)
 Hemiptera - Rhyparochromidae
Aphanus murchisonae Heer 1853 seed bug
AS 11-13
Aphanus pulchellus Heer 1853 seed bug
AS 9
 Hemiptera - Lygaeidae
Lygaeus elongatiabdominalis n. sp. Theobald 1937 milkweed bug
AS 15
 Hemiptera - Heterogastridae
Heterogaster sp. Schilling 1829 true bug
many poorly preserved specimens
Heterogaster antiquus Heer 1853 true bug
AS 7, 6
 Hemiptera - Alydidae
"Alydinae indet." = Alydidae
"Alydinae indet." = Alydidae Amyot and Audinet-Serville 1843 broad-headed bug
AS 8
 Hemiptera - Cydnidae
Cydnus brevicollis Heer 1853 burrowing bug
AS 14