Re #1154 - Cantaure Formation (Miocene of Venezuela)

Where: Falcon, Venezuela (11.9° N, 69.8° W: paleocoordinates 11.2° N, 66.6° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Cantaure Formation, Burdigalian (20.4 - 16.0 Ma)

• Clays, sandstone, and limestones of up to 75, thick, although no single section is completely exposed. Collection apparently derived from near middle part of that thickness. Overlies unconformably Cretaceous rocks and is conformably overlain by limestones on middle to upper Miocene. Jung (1965) regarded the collection as early Middle Miocene, though more recent authors, including Vermeij (2001) indicate an Early Miocene (Burdigalian) age. Formation formerly referred to as "Cerro Pelado".

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: coastal; unlithified, micaceous, shelly/skeletal, silty claystone

• Tropical shallow-water assemblage, neritic, no deep-water genera present, normal salinity, perhaps nearby brackish source.
• Clay, massive, micaceous, slightly silty, and locally containing abundant fossils.

Size class: macrofossils

Reposited in the BMNH, NMB, PRI, USNM

Collection methods: quarrying,

• All material is reposited in the Natural History Museum (NMB), Basel, Switzerland, with some voucher specimens in the British Museum, PRI, and USNM.

Primary reference: P. Jung. 1965. Miocene Mollusca from the Paraguana Peninsula, Venezuela. Bulletins of American Paleontology 49(223):389-652 [A. Miller/A. Hendy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 60707: authorized by Austin Hendy, entered by Austin Hendy on 20.05.2006

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Exhaustive for Bivalvia and Gastropoda. Balanus, corals, numerous otoliths, and Calianassa fragments are commonly found, though not listed.
Bivalvia
 Arcida - Arcidae
"Anadara (Scapharca) aff. cornellana" = Anadara (Rasia) cornellana, "Anadara (Scapharca) tirantensis" = Anadara (Rasia) tirantensis, Anadara (Cunearca) inutilis
"Anadara (Scapharca) aff. cornellana" = Anadara (Rasia) cornellana Hodson et al. 1927 ark
"Anadara (Scapharca) tirantensis" = Anadara (Rasia) tirantensis Hodson et al. 1927 ark
 Cardiida - Tellinidae
"Psammacoma falconensis" = Psammacoma gatunensis
"Psammacoma falconensis" = Psammacoma gatunensis Toula 1909 tellin clam
 Cardiida - Veneridae
Clementia (Clementia) dariena Conrad 1855 venus clam
"Cyclinella venezuelana" = Cyclinella cyclica Guppy 1866 venus clam
Gastropoda
 Heterostropha - Architectonicidae
"Architectonica (Architectonica) nobilis" = Architectonica nobilis
"Architectonica (Architectonica) nobilis" = Architectonica nobilis Röding 1798 sundial
Subspecies: A. (A.) nobilis nobilis
 Heterostropha - Pyramidellidae
 Neogastropoda - Marginellidae
Prunum (Prunum) quirosense Hodson 1927 margin shell
 Neogastropoda - Olividae
"Oliva (Oliva) cylindrica" = Oliva cylindrica
"Oliva (Oliva) cylindrica" = Oliva cylindrica Sowerby 1850 olive snail
 Neogastropoda - Drilliidae
 Neogastropoda - Conidae
Conus aff. molis Brown and Pilsbry 1911 cone shell
 Neogastropoda - Terebridae
Terebra (Paraterebra) inaequalis Sowerby 1849 auger snail
 Neogastropoda - Turridae
Polystira barretti Guppy 1866 turrid
 Neogastropoda - Melongenidae
Melongena melongena Linnaeus 1758 snail
Subspecies: M. melongena consors
 Neogastropoda - Buccinidae
Cymatophos paraguanensis Hodson and Hodson 1931 true whelk
 Neogastropoda - Fasciolariidae
 Sorbeoconcha - Tonnidae
Malea cf. camura Guppy 1866 tun shell
 Sorbeoconcha - Eocypraeidae
"Marginocypraea wegeneri" = Sphaerocypraea wegeneri
"Marginocypraea wegeneri" = Sphaerocypraea wegeneri Schilder 1939 snail
 Sorbeoconcha - Naticidae
Neverita paraguanensis Hodson 1927 moon snail
 Cerithioidea - Turritellidae
Turritella machapoorensis Maury 1925 turret shell
Subspecies: T. machapoorensis paraguanensis
Turritella cocoditana Hodson 1926 turret shell