Point Shirley, Massachusetts (Pleistocene) (Pleistocene of the United States)

Where: Suffolk County, Massachusetts (42.4° N, 71.0° W: paleocoordinates 42.4° N, 71.0° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Late/Upper Pleistocene (0.1 - 0.0 Ma)

• STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS: underlies glacial drift. BIOSTRATIGRAPHY: no justification given for age assignment.

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: coastal; unlithified, pebbly, shelly/skeletal claystone

• DEPTH: no specific data, apparently, shallow shelfal fauna. SALINITY: no specific data, apparently normal marine. THERMAL TOLERANCES: no specific data, apparently temperate fauna. PALEOBIOGEOGRAPHY: Acadian fauna, mixed with a more southern assemblage of animals - taxa are those that largely exits around modern Cape Code, MA.
• SPECIFIC LITHOLOGY: Blue clay and pebbles.

Size class: macrofossils

Collection methods: quarrying,

• SOURCE: List compiled from earlier lists based on earlier collections. COLLECTOR: Stimpson (1851), Packard (1865). REPOSITORIES: unknown repositories, possibly local Boston, MA museums.

Primary reference: W.B. Clark. 1906. Pliocene and Pleistocene. Maryland Geological Survey [A. Miller/A. Hendy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 61267: authorized by Austin Hendy, entered by Austin Hendy on 04.06.2006

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• COVERAGE: Exhaustive for gastropoda and bivalvia. NOMENCLATURE: antitquated, but all assigned species-level designations.
Gastropoda
 Neogastropoda - Nassariidae
Ilyanassa obsoleta Say 1822 snail
"Nassa trivittata" = Ilyanassa trivittata Say 1822 snail
 Neogastropoda - Muricidae
Urosalpinx cinerea Say 1822 murex snail
Bivalvia
 Ostreida - Ostreidae
"Ostrea virginica" = Crassostrea virginica
"Ostrea virginica" = Crassostrea virginica Gmelin 1791 oyster
 Pholadida - Myidae
"Mya arenaria" = Mya (Arenomya) arenaria
"Mya arenaria" = Mya (Arenomya) arenaria Linnaeus 1758 softshell clam
 Cardiida - Lasaeidae
Aligena elevata Stimpson 1851 aligena
 Cardiida - Veneridae
"Venus mercenaria" = Mercenaria mercenaria
"Venus mercenaria" = Mercenaria mercenaria Linnaeus 1758 quahog