El Caracolar, unit 4 (Miocene of Spain)

Where: Spain (37.2° N, 3.6° W: paleocoordinates 37.4° N, 4.3° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Tortonian (11.6 - 7.2 Ma)

• Although units 1 and 4 lack clear biostratigraphic indicators, planktonic foraminifera in units 2 and 3 indicate an early Tortonian age (c. 11.0-9.9 Ma).

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: offshore; poorly lithified, pebbly sandstone

• A water depth of 100-130 m is suggested based on the occurrence of the bivalve Amussium cristatum (Bronn, 1827) throughout the unit, together with the cirriped Arcoscalpellum Hoek, 1907, the bamboo-coral Keratoisis melitensis (Goldfuss, 1826) (restricted to the upper part of the unit), the cidaroid echinoid Histocidaris aff. rosaria (Bronn, 1831), the mitsukurinid shark Mitsukurina Jordan, 1898, and high numbers of platy nummulitids (Freneix et al., 1987; Rowe and Gates, 1995; Young, 2001; Compagno, 2001; Donovan et al., 2005; Hallock and Pomar, 2008; Chan et al., 2009). Additionally, the abundance of rhodoliths suggests depths not exceeding 100-150 m (Walker et al., 1998; Rivas et al., 1999; Foster, 2001).
• Greenish to yellowish silty sandstones grading laterally and stratigraphically upwards into channelized brownish calcirudites and further into reddish silty sandstones are exposed here. Polymictic blocks are present throughout the unit, being more common and larger in coarser sediments, where they can measure > 50 cm in diameter.

Size class: macrofossils

Reposited in the NHMW

Primary reference: G. Díaz-Medina, M. Hyžný, and A. A. Klompmaker. 2017. A lithostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental framework for the late Miocene El Caracolar section (Granada Basin, Betic Cordillera, Spain) and description of decapod crustaceans. Geobios 50:173-195 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 234380: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Matthew Clapham on 09.04.2024

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Malacostraca
 Decapoda - Diogenidae
Petrochirus priscus
Petrochirus priscus Brocchi 1883 hermit crab
 Decapoda -
Portunoidea indet.
Portunoidea indet. Rafinesque 1815 crab
 Decapoda - Calappidae
Calappa praelata
Calappa praelata Lorenthey 1929 box crab
 Decapoda - Callianassidae
"Callianassa" cf. almerai
"Callianassa" cf. almerai Muller 1993 decapod