Amor, points 2 to 5 (Miocene of Portugal)

Where: Região Centro, Portugal (39.8° N, 8.9° W: paleocoordinates 39.9° N, 10.2° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: MN 5 (16.0 - 13.7 Ma)

• The presence of Lagopsis penai, Microdyromys koenigswaldi, and Megacricetodon collongensis points to an age younger than MN 6 and thus either MN 4 or MN 5. The grade of evolution of Lagopsis penai and the presence of Cricetodon speak in favor of MN 5 (Antunes & Mein, 1981).

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: mire or swamp; mudstone and siltstone

• The outcrops appear to represent a swamp environment with remains of (almost) exclusively aquatic animals like turtles, urodeles and fishes. Fragile shells of pulmonate gastropods may represent mass mortality through flooding and submersion of the plants they were living on.
• Fine grained deposits (mud, silt and fine sand) dominate.

Size class: macrofossils

Collected by M. T. Antunes, P. Mein in 1970-1977

Collection methods: surface (in situ), sieve

• Systematic collecting took place from 1970 to 1977. Besides surface collecting, several hundred kilograms of sediment were screenwashed in order to gather small mammals. "The result was always positive but never brilliant" (Antunes & Mein, 1981).

Primary reference: M. T. Antunes and P. Mein. 1981. Vertébrés du miocène moyen de amor (Leiria) - importance stratigraphique. Ciências da Terra 6:169-188 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/T. Liebrecht]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 136334: authorized by Johannes Mueller, entered by Torsten Liebrecht on 26.11.2012

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Gastropoda
 Stylommatophora - Helicidae
Helix spp. Linnaeus 1758 slug
"frequent"
Aves
 Aves -
Aves indet. bird
"rare"
Reptilia
 Crocodylia -
Crocodylia indet. Owen 1842 crocodilian
"rare"
 Testudines - Emydidae
Emydidae indet. Rafinesque 1815 turtle
"rare"
 Squamata - Varanidae
Iberovaranus cf. catalaunicus Hoffstetter 1969 monitor lizard
"rare"
 Squamata - Anguidae
cf. Ophisaurus indet. Daudin 1803 glass lizard
"rare"
 Squamata - Colubridae
cf. Coluber sp. Linnaeus 1758 racer
"rare"
Mammalia
 Proboscidea - Gomphotheriidae
Gomphotherium angustidens Burmeister 1837 gomphothere
"rare"
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
Mustelidae indet. Fischer 1817 mustelid carnivore
"rare"
 Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
Rhinocerotidae indet. Gray 1821 rhinoceros
"rare"
 Artiodactyla - Suidae
Hyotherium soemmeringi von Meyer 1834 pig
"rare"
 Artiodactyla - Tragulidae
Dorcatherium naui Kaup 1833 chevrotain
"rare"
 Artiodactyla - Cervidae
Cervidae "indet. I" Gray 1821 deer
"rare"
? Cervidae "indet. II" Gray 1821 deer
"rare"
 Artiodactyla - Palaeomerycidae
Palaeomeryx kaupi von Meyer 1834 ruminant
"rare"
 Theriamorpha - Erinaceidae
Galerix cf. exilis de Blainville 1839 hedgehog
"rare"
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Fahlbuschia freudenthali Antunes and Mein 1981 mouse
"rare"
Megacricetodon collongensis Mein 1958 mouse
"very frequent"
 Lagomorpha - Ochotonidae
Prolagus cf. oeningensis König 1825 pika
"rare"
Lagopsis cf. penai pika
"rare"
Amphibia
 Caudata - Urodela
Urodela indet. Duméril 1805 salamander
"very frequent"
 Salientia -
Anura indet. Fischer von Waldheim 1813 frog
"frequent"
Actinopteri
 Cypriniformes - Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae indet. Rafinesque 1815 carp-like fish
"very frequent"