Southwest of Santa Susana (Paleocene of the United States)

Also known as Locality 4 of Waring 1917; CAS loc. 61667; CAS loc. 61901; CAS loc. 61926; LSJU 4; LSJU loc. 2697

Where: Ventura County, California (34.2° N, 118.7° W: paleocoordinates 39.2° N, 96.7° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

When: Las Virgenes Formation, Danian (66.0 - 61.6 Ma)

• Originally described as "Martinez," but now belongs to Santa Susana Formation. Nautilids come from Zinsmeister's (1983) "assemblage A" which spans the lower three-quarters of the Santa Susana. Planktonic foraminifera suggest a P4 and P5 age (Heitman, 1983) and calcareous nannoplankton belong to zones CP5-CP8 (Filewicz & Hill, 1983), indicating a Thanetian age.

•[Squires 2018] Waring (1917) listed the mollusks found at this locality and referred to them erroneously as ‘Martinez’ species of ‘early Eocene’ age. The type locality of O. plectata plots in upper lower Paleocene (upper Danian Stage) strata mapped as the Las Virgenes Sandstone (Squires, 1981).

Environment/lithology: transition zone or lower shoreface; bioturbated, fine-grained sandstone

• Locality is likely west of the Runkle Canyon Fault, in the western unit of Parker (1985). The lower unit of the western Santa Susana formation is interpreted as representing transition zone and offshore to shelf sedimentation. Modern deposits in the transition zone consist of bioturbated horizons alternating with parallel laminated horizons (Kumar and Sanders, 1976; Howard and Reineck, 1981). Offshore and shelf deposits are densely bioturbated with only remnant parallel laminae present (Reineck and Singh, 1980; Howard and Reineck, 1981). Shells and shell fragments occur in isolated pods and lenses and burrows are commonly filled with sediment (Howard and Reineck, 1981). These characteristics are present throughout most of the lower unit except in siltstone horizons which are pervasively fractured.

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Reposited in the CAS

• Leland Stanford Junior University Paleontology Collections, eventually transferred to the California Academy of Sciences

Primary reference: C. A. Waring. 1917. Stratigraphic and faunal relations of the Martinez to the Chico and Tejon of Southern California. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 7(4):41-124 [L. Villier/L. Villier]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 193035: authorized by Jonathan Marcot, entered by Jonathan Marcot on 04.05.2018, edited by Austin Hendy

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Anthozoa
 Scleractinia - Flabellidae
"Flabellum remondianum" = Flabellum cuneiforme
"Flabellum remondianum" = Flabellum cuneiforme Lonsdale 1845 stony coral
Rhynchonellata
 Terebratulida - Kingenidae
Kingena simiensis n. sp. Waring 1917
Bivalvia
 Nuculanida - Nuculanidae
"Leda alaeformis" = Nuculana (Saccella) alaeformis, "Leda gabbi" = Nuculana (Saccella) gabbii
"Leda alaeformis" = Nuculana (Saccella) alaeformis Gabb 1869 pointed nut clam
"Leda gabbi" = Nuculana (Saccella) gabbii Conrad 1866 pointed nut clam
 Pectinida - Limidae
"Lima perrini n. sp." = Acesta (Plicacesta) haseltinei
"Lima perrini n. sp." = Acesta (Plicacesta) haseltinei Dickerson 1914 file clam
 Carditida - Carditidae
"Venericardia planicosta" = Venericor planicosta
"Venericardia planicosta" = Venericor planicosta Lamarck 1801 clam
new subspecies venturensis
 Carditida - Astartidae
Opis virginalis n. sp. Waring 1917 clam
 Carditida - Crassatellidae
"Crassatellites grandis" = Crassatella uvasana, "Crassatellites branneri" = Crassatella branneri
"Crassatellites grandis" = Crassatella uvasana Conrad 1855 clam
"Crassatellites branneri" = Crassatella branneri Waring 1914 clam
 Solenida - Solenidae
"Solen stantoni" = Solena (Eosolen) stantoni
"Solen stantoni" = Solena (Eosolen) stantoni Weaver 1905 clam
 Pholadomyida - Pholadomyidae
Pholadomya nasuta Gabb 1864 clam
 Cardiida - Cardiidae
"Cardium cooperii" = Nemocardium (Nemocardium) linteum
"Cardium cooperii" = Nemocardium (Nemocardium) linteum Conrad 1855 cockle
 Cardiida - Tellinidae
Tellinidae indet.1 Blainville 1814 tellin clam
 Cardiida - Psammobiidae
"Psammobia hornii" = Gari (Gobraeus) hornii
"Psammobia hornii" = Gari (Gobraeus) hornii Gabb 1864 clam
 Cardiida - Mactridae
"Spisula aequilateralis n. sp." = Mactromeris aequilateralis
"Spisula aequilateralis n. sp." = Mactromeris aequilateralis Waring 1917 clam
 Cardiida - Veneridae
Macrocallista stantoni n. sp. Waring 1917 venus clam
 Lucinida - Lucinidae
"Miltha parsonsi n. sp." = Miltha (Miltha) parsoni
"Miltha parsonsi n. sp." = Miltha (Miltha) parsoni Waring 1917 clam
Scaphopoda
 Dentaliida - Dentaliidae
"Dentalium cooperii" = Dentalium cooperi
"Dentalium cooperii" = Dentalium cooperi Gabb 1864 tusk shell
Gastropoda
 Opisthobranchia - Cylichnidae
"Cylichna costata" = Scaphander (Mirascapha) costatus
"Cylichna costata" = Scaphander (Mirascapha) costatus Gabb 1864 snail
 Heterostropha - Acteonidae
Actaeon merriami n. sp. Waring 1917 snail
 Neogastropoda - Muricidae
Pseudoperissolax tricarnatus2 Weaver 1905 murex snail
 Neogastropoda - Volutidae
Retipirula crassitesta Gabb 1869 volute
Lyria hannibali n. sp. Waring 1917 volute
 Neogastropoda - Harpidae
"Ficus plectatus n. sp." = Oniscidia plectata
"Ficus plectatus n. sp." = Oniscidia plectata Waring 1917 snail
 Neogastropoda - Olividae
Olivella spissa n. sp. Waring 1917 olive snail
 Neogastropoda - Borsoniidae
Bathytoma boundeyi n. sp. Waring 1917 snail
 Neogastropoda - Buccinidae
Brachysphingus sinuatus Gabb 1869 true whelk
"Pseudoliva howardi" = Pegocomptus howardi Dickerson 1914 true whelk
 Neogastropoda - Fasciolariidae
"Trachytriton titan n. sp." = Saxituberosa titan
"Trachytriton titan n. sp." = Saxituberosa titan Waring 1917 snail
 Sorbeoconcha - Naticidae
Amauropsis martinezensis Dickerson 1914 moon snail
"Sinum dickersoni n. sp." = Lacunaria striata Gabb 1869 moon snail
Gyrodes robustus n. sp. Waring 1917 moon snail
Polynices hornii Gabb 1864 moon snail
 Cerithioidea - Turritellidae
"Turritella maccreadyi" = Mesalia martinezensis, Turritella reversa n. sp., "Turritella pachecoensis" = Turritella pachecoensis, "Turritella simiensis n. sp." = Turritella pachecoensis
"Turritella maccreadyi" = Mesalia martinezensis Gabb 1869 turret shell
Turritella reversa n. sp. Waring 1917 turret shell
"Turritella pachecoensis" = Turritella pachecoensis Stanton 1896 turret shell
"Turritella simiensis n. sp." = Turritella pachecoensis Stanton 1896 turret shell
Cephalopoda
 Nautilida - Nautilidae
"Nautilus hallidayi" = Eutrephoceras hallidayi
"Nautilus hallidayi" = Eutrephoceras hallidayi Waring 1914 nautiloid
Chondrichthyes
 Lamniformes - Carchariidae
"Lamna clavata" = Carcharias clavata
"Lamna clavata" = Carcharias clavata Agassiz 1856 sand shark