Aix-en-Provence (Hope Coll) (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

• outcrop-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: Repository: Implied to be in the personal collection of Rev. F.W. Hope. Some/all specimens given to him by local scientists.

Primary reference: F. W. Hope. 1847. Observations on the fossil insects of Aix in Provence, with descriptions and figures of three species. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 4:250-255 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 155716: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Matthew Clapham on 26.04.2014

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Insecta
 Hemiptera - Rhyparochromidae
"Corizus boyeri n. sp." = Aphanus murchisonae
"Corizus boyeri n. sp." = Aphanus murchisonae Heer 1853 seed bug
 Coleoptera - Curculionidae
Balaninus barthelemyi n. sp. Hope 1847 snout beetle
Rhynchaenus solieri n. sp. Hope 1847 snout beetle