Batavia Knoll (Cretaceous of Indian Ocean)

Where: Indian Ocean (25.3° S, 100.3° E: paleocoordinates 25.3° S, 100.3° E)

• coordinate stated in text

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Late/Upper Albian (105.3 - 99.6 Ma)

• Aucellina gryphaeoides Sowerby, 1836 is not recorded below the base of the Mortoniceras inflatum Ammonite Zone in Europe (Lehmann et al., 2008), and Bhimaites stoliczkai Kossmat, 1898 is found to have a similarly timed first appearance datum there (Gale et al., 2011). The type specimen for B. stoliczkai was described from the Odiyam Member of the Karai Formation in southern India (Stoliczka, 1865), a unit that straddles the Albian-Cenomanian boundary (Sundaram et al., 2001). The temporal range of both these taxa extends only into the early Cenomanian (Morter and Wood, 1983; Kennedy and Klinger, 2014). Further refinement comes with the extinction of Planohamites Monks, 2002 at the end of the Albian, 100.5 Ma (Monks, 2002; Gradstein et al., 2012). The presence of these temporally restricted taxa resolves the age of the Batavia Knoll sandstone, constraining it to the late Albian and probably the early late Albian, ca. 103 to 101 Ma. The benthic foraminiferal assemblages therefrom were deemed to be of late Albian age. This is consistent with preliminary calcareous microfossil analysis conducted by P. Quilty (personal communication, 2014).

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: coastal; lithified sandstone

• Close proximity of the deposition site to the paleoshore is evidenced in the presence of a substantial quantity of wood fragments being recovered from the Batavia Knoll sandstone.
• Sandstone (medium-grained laminated to coarse-grained massive) facies. Those studied herein exhibited low textural maturity, being poorly sorted, having relatively large subhedral quartz (which dominated; ~80% framework composition), and smaller mica and feldspar framework grains supported by a micritic matrix. The sandstone is massive, and all fossils therein were arranged with haphazard orientations, with no bedding apparent.

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: mold/impression

Collected in 2011

• Repository: Western Australian Museum

Primary reference: T. J. Wild and J. D. Stilwell. 2016. First Cretaceous (Albian) invertebrate fossil assemblage from Batavia Knoll, Perth Abyssal Plain, eastern Indian Ocean: taxonomy and paleoecological significance. Journal of Paleontology 90:959-980 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 181562: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Matthew Clapham on 15.09.2016

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Cephalopoda
 Ammonitida - Desmoceratidae
"Bhimaites cf. stoliczkai" = Puzosia (Bhimaites) stoliczkai
"Bhimaites cf. stoliczkai" = Puzosia (Bhimaites) stoliczkai Kossmat 1898 ammonite
 Ammonitida - Hamitidae
Planohamites sp. Monks 2002 ammonite
Gastropoda
 Trochoidea - Turbinidae
Igonoia levimargarita n. sp. Wild and Stilwell 2016 snail
 Seguenzioidea - Eucyclidae
Planolateralus acanthanodus n. sp. Wild and Stilwell 2016 snail
 Pleurotomarioidea - Pleurotomariidae
? Leptomaria sp. Eudes-Deslongchamps 1864 snail
 Cerithioidea - Turritellidae
Turritella sp. Lamarck 1799 turret shell
 Cerithioidea - Cryptaulacidae
Cirsocerithium sp. Cossmann 1906 snail
 Sorbeoconcha - Aporrhaidae
Anchura pelsaerti n. sp. Wild and Stilwell 2016 snail
Drepanocheilus bataviensis n. sp. Wild and Stilwell 2016 snail
 Sorbeoconcha - Procerithiidae
Procerithium arenacollicola n. sp. Wild and Stilwell 2016 snail
 Heterostropha - Ringiculidae
 Heterostropha - Architectonicidae
? Pseudomalaxis sp. Fischer 1850 snail
Bivalvia
 Myalinida - Inoceramidae
Inoceramus sp. Sowerby 1814 clam
 Pectinida - Buchiidae
Aucellina gryphaeoides Sowerby 1836 scallop
 Pectinida - Pectinoidae
Spondylus sp. Linnaeus 1758 scallop
 Ostreida - Pinnidae
Pinnidae indet. Leach 1819 oyster
 Cardiida - Veneridae
Resatrix sp. Casey 1952 venus clam
 Hiatellida - Hiatellidae
Panopea cf. inaequivalvis d'Orbigny 1843 clam
 Carditida - Astartidae
Astarte jugosa Forbes 1846 clam
 Nuculanida - Nuculanidae
Nuculana cf. socialis Stoliczka 1871 pointed nut clam
Scaphopoda
 Dentaliida - Dentaliidae
Dentalium sp. Linnaeus 1758 tusk shell
Polychaeta
 Sabellida - Serpulidae
Parsimonia ootatoorensis Stoliczka 1873
Ostracoda
 Podocopida - Trachyleberididae
? Trachyleberididae indet. Sylvester-Bradley 1948 ostracod
Echinoidea
  -
Echinoidea indet. Leske 1778 sea urchin