K 12013 - Courbaril Member, Point Courbaril (Pliocene of Trinidad and Tobago)

Where: Trinidad and Tobago (10.2° N, 61.6° W: paleocoordinates 10.2° N, 60.9° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Courbaril Member (Morne l'Enfer Formation), Early/Lower Pliocene (5.3 - 3.6 Ma)

• Collection is from the Courbaril Sand and Clay Member of the Upper Morne l'Enfer Formation. The Courbaril fauna is considered to be of early Pliocene age and is probably slightly older than the Matura fauna.

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: shoreface; poorly lithified sandstone and claystone

• The assemblage as a whole points to a nearshore environment, with some brackish influence (compared with Melajo Clay assemblages).
• Poor reporting of lithologies. Named as the "Courbaril Sand and Clay Member", so these lithologies are assigned.

Size class: macrofossils

Reposited in the PRI, USNM

Collection methods: quarrying,

• All material descibed in this report is reposited in the Naturhistorisches Mueum, Basel, or the USNM. Additional material collection from this unit is found at PRI.

Primary reference: P. Jung. 1969. Miocene and Pliocene mollusks from Trinidad. Bulletins of American Paleontology 55(247):293-697 [A. Miller/A. Hendy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 60411: authorized by Austin Hendy, entered by Austin Hendy on 14.05.2006

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Exhaustive for Mollusca. Crab claws, corals, fish teeth, and scarce foraminifera also exist in the unit, though are not listed. Van de Bold (1963) also lists ostracords from several localities.
Gastropoda
 Cerithioidea - Cerithiidae
Cerithium harrisi cerith snail
 Cerithioidea - Turritellidae
Turritella (Broderiptella) bifastigata Nelson 1870 turret shell
Subspecies: T. (B.) bifastigata cartagenensis
 Sorbeoconcha - Naticidae
"Natica (Naticarius) aff. canrena" = Naticarius canrena
"Natica (Naticarius) aff. canrena" = Naticarius canrena Linnaeus 1758 moon snail
Bivalvia
 Nuculanida - Nuculanidae
"Adrana perprotracta" = Adrana newcombi
"Adrana perprotracta" = Adrana newcombi Angas 1878 pointed nut clam
 Cardiida - Mactridae
Mulinia sp. Gray 1837 clam
 Cardiida - Veneridae
"Chione (Lirophora) sanctidavidis" = Lirophora
"Chione (Lirophora) sanctidavidis" = Lirophora venus clam
 Cardiida - Chamidae
Chama cf. macerophylla Gmelin 1791 jewel box
[entered as Chama macrophylla]
 Cardiida - Tellinidae
"Eurytellina melajoensis" = Tellina (Eurytellina) tellin clam
Eurytellina punicea Born 1778 tellin clam
 Cardiida - Semelidae
Semele proficua Pulteney 1799 clam
Abra cf. aequalis Say 1822 abra
 Solenida - Solenidae
Solen (Solena) obliquus Spengler 1794 clam