Silveirinha clay pit: Early Eocene, Portugal

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Reptilia - Agamidae
cf. Tinosaurus sp. (Estes 1783)
Rage and Augé 2003 1 fragment
fragment of bone bearing two teeth
Reptilia - Iguanidae
Iguanidae indet. Oppel 1811
Rage and Augé 2003 3 fragments
3 fragments of dentigerous bone
Rage and Augé 2003 1 fragment
posterior part of maxilla
Reptilia
Serpentes indet. (Linnaeus 1758)
Rage and Augé 2003 1 element
1 vertebra
Reptilia - Boidae
Boidae indet. Gray 1825
Rage and Augé 2003 16 elements
16 vertebrae (taxon mentioned as Boinae indet. by Antunes & Russel, 1981)
Reptilia - Tropidophiidae
Rage and Augé 2003 34 elements
34 vertebrae (taxon mentioned as Dunnophis cf. matronensis by Antunes & Russel, 1981)
Reptilia - Anguidae
Rage and Augé 2003
some incomplete dentaries and hundreds of trunk osteoderms
Rage and Augé 2003
6 fragments of skull bones and tens of isolated osteoderms (taxon identified as "forme du groupe Placosaurus" by Antunes & Russel, 1981)
Rage and Augé 2003 2 fragments
1 incomplete jugal and 1 fragment of what is probably a parietal
Melanosaurini indet. Sullivan 1979
Rage and Augé 2003 1 fragment
incomplete parietal
Rage and Augé 2003 2 elements
1 posterior part of dentary, 1 vertebra (shape of teeth reminiscent of group of Anguinae that includes Dopasia and Anguis)
Reptilia - Varanidae
? Varanidae indet. Hardwicke and Gray 1824
Rage and Augé 2003 1 element
vertebra (presence of a pseudozygosphene is reminiscent of the genus Saniwa)
Reptilia - Gekkonidae
Rage and Augé 2003 3 elements
2 anterior parts of dentaries, 1 trunk vertebra
Reptilia - Amphisbaenidae
Rage and Augé 2003 12 elements
2 posterior parts of dentaries, about 10 vertebrae (taxon mentioned as Amphisbaenia indet. by Antunes & Russel, 1981)
Reptilia
Rage and Augé 2003 4 fragments
4 fragments of dentigerous bone
Rage and Augé 2003 2 specimens
1 fragment of dentigerous bone, 1 vertebra
Diplocynodon sp. Pomel 1847
Antunes 2003
Elements from across the skeleton
Reptilia - Charadriiformes - Recurvirostridae
Harrison 1983 3 elements
Femur (holotype). Referred specimens: distal humerus and right radius
Reptilia
Neornithes indet. Gadow 1893
Antunes 2003
Reptilia - Testudines - Podocnemididae
Neochelys sp. Bergounioux 1954
Lapparent de Broin 2003
multiple elements. Listed as "N. cf. arenarum" in Antunes & Russell, 1981
Mammalia
Estravís and Russell 1992 3 elements
SV2-15, isolated, right M3. Referred: SV3-234, right M3 and, more questionably, SV3-208, left M1 or M2
Mammalia - Chiroptera - Archaeonycteridae
Tabuce et al. 2009 1 specimen
A right lower m1 or m2, UNLSNC-447
Mammalia - Rodentia - Ischyromyidae
Microparamys paisi Estravís 1994
Microparamys cf. nanus Teilhard de Jardin 1927
Mammalia - Primates
Mammalia - Primates - Paromomyidae
Mammalia - Acreodi
Tabuce et al. 2011
Mammalia - Perissodactyla
Paschatherium marianae Estravís and Russell 1992
Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Lophiodontidae
Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Equidae
Mammalia - Perissodactyla
Microhyus reisi Antunes et al. 1987
Mammalia - Diacodexeidae
Estravís and Russell 1989
CEPUNL SV3-338 - type; originally listed as Diacodexis cf. gazini (Antunes and Russell 1981)
Mammalia - Viverravidae
Mammalia - Carnivora - Miacidae
Mammalia
Miacis cf. latouri Quinet 1966
Mammalia - Creodonta
Mammalia
Mammalia - Nyctitheriidae
Estravís 1996
SV3-302 - type
Mammalia - Apatemyidae
Estravís 1990 1 specimen
SV3-249, maxilla
+ cf. Apatemys sp.
Heterohyus sp. Gervais 1848
sp. I + II
Mammalia - Cimolestidae
Mammalia - Leptictidae
Didelphodus sp. Cope 1882
Mammalia
Peratherium cf. constans Teilhard de Jardin 1927
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Pelobatidae
Pelobatidae indet. Lataste 1879
Rage and Augé 2003 2 fragments
2 fragments of ilia (identified as Eopelobates sp. by Antunes & Russel, 1981)
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Urodela
Rage and Augé 2003 39 elements
37 vertebrae, 2 fragments of humeri (taxon already mentioned by Antunes & Russel, 1981)
see common names

Geography
Country:Portugal State/province:Região Centro County:Baixo Mondego
Coordinates: 40.0° North, 8.8° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:31.9° North, 0.9° West (Wright 2013)
Basis of coordinate:based on nearby landmark
Geographic resolution:outcrop
Time
Period: Paleogene Epoch: Eocene
Stage: Ypresian 10 m.y. bin: Cenozoic 2
Key time interval: Early Eocene Mammal zone:  MP 7
Age range of interval: 56 - 48.07 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Formation:Silveirinha Member:Rio Mondego
Stratigraphic resolution:group of beds
Stratigraphy comments: The exact stratigraphic position of the Silveirinha locality is not fully constrained. It is generally regarded as either latest Paleocene and/or earliest Eocene. Most authors prefer assignment to the Early Eocene (MN7), based on mammal biostratigraphy (see e.g. Pais et al., 2012, Paleogene and Neogene of Western Iberia. Springer). (TL)
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:lenticular calcareous conglomerate
Secondary lithology: muddy,sandy "siliciclastic"
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: The Silveirinha Formation consists of fossiliferous lenticular calcitic conglomerates as well as laminated and cross bedded sands and brownish-red silts. (Pais et al., 2012)
Environment:crevasse splay Tectonic setting:passive margin
Geology comments: The conglomerates are interpreted as crevasse-splay deposit (Antunes & Russel, 1981, C. R. Acad. Sc. Paris, Ser. II, 293, 1099-1102).
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils
Abundance in sediment:abundant
Temporal resolution:snapshot
Collection methods and comments
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Metadata
Also known as:Silveirinha Pequena
Database number:79200
Authorizer:L. van den Hoek Ostende, P. Mannion, P. Holroyd, R. Butler, J. Alroy, J. Mueller Enterer:L. van den Hoek Ostende, J. Alroy, P. Mannion, P. Holroyd, R. Butler, T. Liebrecht
Modifier:P. Mannion Research group:vertebrate
Created:2008-02-27 14:42:04 Last modified:2025-02-22 15:12:02
Access level:the public Released:2008-02-27 14:42:04
Creative Commons license:CC0
Reference information

Primary reference:
26559. C. Estravís. 2000. Nuevos mamíferos del Eoceno Inferior de Silveirinha (Baixo Mondego, Portugal). Coloquios de Paleontología 51:281-311 [L. van den Hoek Ostende/L. van den Hoek Ostende/P. Mannion]

Secondary references:

59392 M. T. Antunes. 2003. Lower Paleogene crocodilians from Silveirinha, Portugal. Palaeovertebrata 32(1):1-26 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
66245 M. Boivin, M. J. Orliac, M. Antunes Telles, M. Godinot, Y. Laurent, B. Marandat, D. Vidalenc and R. Tabuce. 2018. New material of Diacodexis (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the early Eocene of Southern Europe. Geobios 51(4):285-306 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
60626 C. Estravís. 1990. Russellmys denisae, un nouvel Apatémyidé (Mammalia) de Silveirinha, eocène inférieur du Portugal. Geobios 23(6):761-765 [R. Butler/R. Butler/P. Mannion]
61445 C. Estravís. 1996. Leptacodon nascimentoi n. sp., un nouveau Nyctitheriidae (Mammalia, Lipotyphla) de l'Eocène inférieur de Silveirinha (Baixo Mondego, Portugal). Palaeovertebrata 25(2-4):279-286 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
61447 C. Estravís and D. E. Russell. 1989. Decouverte d'un nouveau Diacodexis (Artiocactyla, Mammalia) dans l'Eocène inférieur de Silveirinha, Portugal. Palaeovertebrata 19(1):29-44 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
60628 C. Estravís and D. E. Russell. 1992. The presence of Taeniodonta (Mammalia) in the Early Eocene of Europe. Ciencias da Terra 11:191-201 [R. Butler/R. Butler/P. Mannion]
60627 C. J. O. Harrison. 1983. A new wader, Recurvirostridae (Charadriiformes), from the early eocene of Portugal. Ciencias da Terra 7:9-16 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
58692 F. Lapparent de Broin. 2003. Neochelys sp. (Chelonii, Erymnochelyinae), from Silveirinha, early Eocene, Portugal. Ciencias da Terra (UNL) 15:117-132 [P. Holroyd/P. Holroyd]
43269 J. C. Rage and M. Augé. 2003. Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the lower Eocene of Silveirinha (Portugal). Ciências da Terra 15:103-116 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht]
60625 R. Tabuce, M. T. Antunes, and B. Sige. 2009. A new primitive bat from the earliest Eocene of Europe. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29(2):627-630 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
35900 R. Tabuce, J. Clavel, and M. T. Antunes. 2011. A structural intermediate between triisodontids and mesonychians (Mammalia, Acreodi) from the earliest Eocene of Portugal. Naturwissenschaften 98:145-155 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]