Lapsarna (=LRN) (Miocene of Greece)

Where: Lesvos, Greece (39.3° N, 25.9° E: paleocoordinates 38.1° N, 24.8° E)

• coordinate stated in text

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Early/Lower Miocene (23.0 - 16.0 Ma)

• ?MN3. The precise age of the fossiliferous layer has not yet been established with confidence. A radiometric date of 18.4 ± 0.5 Ma for the lower part of the overlying Skoutaros Fm provides the latest possible age for the underlying lacustrine deposits containing the fossiliferous layer.

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: lacustrine - large; black, brown mudstone

• Most of the identified freshwater gastropod genera prefer slow-moving to standing waters and are often associated with rich vegetation. This suggests a lacustrine environment. The presence of an anuran and a salamandrid in Lapsarna further hints at an aquatic environment. This conclusion is further supported by the probable presence of a grass snake (Natricinae), a clade that mostly inhabits semi-aquatic environments. The presence of crocodiles in Lesvos around 19 Ma indicates that it had a tropical to subtropical climate at that time.
• The approximately 20-cm-thick fossiliferous layer at Lapsarna is stratigraphically positioned in the upper part of Neogene lacustrine deposits, containing several lignite-rich layers a few centimetres to 1 m thick, and consists of blackish-brown marls that are very rich in organic matter. The lacustrine deposits of the basin are overlain by a thick sequence of volcanic rocks, which include a lower ignimbrite layer, a pyroclastic sequence hosting the plant fossils of the Lesvos Petrified Forest, an upper ignimbrite, and the Lava Unit.

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collection methods: surface (in situ),

• The material is deposited at the Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest (Lesvos, Greece).

Primary reference: K. Vasileiadou, M. Boehme, T. A. Neubauer, G. L. Georgalis, G. E. Syrides, L. Papadopoulou, and N. Zouros. 2017. Early Miocene gastropod and ectothermic vertebrate remains from the Lesvos Petrified Forest (Greece). Palaeontologische Zeitschrift [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 186558: authorized by Evangelos Vlachos, entered by Evangelos Vlachos on 25.06.2017

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Gastropoda
 Stylommatophora - Milacidae
Milax sp. Gray 1855 slug
10 vestigial shells.
 Stylommatophora - Limacidae
Limax sp. Linnaeus 1758 slug
11 vestigial shells.
 Stylommatophora - Helicidae
Helicidae indet. Rafinesque 1815 slug
25 specimens.
 Heterostropha - Planorbidae
Gyraulus sp. Charpentier 1837 snail
At least 31 specimens and several fragments.
Planorbarius sp. Dumeril 1806 snail
More than 10 specimens.
 Heterostropha - Lymnaeidae
Lymnaeidae indet. Rafinesque 1815 snail
At least 18 specimens and several fragments.
? Radix sp. Montfort 1810 snail
At least seven specimens and several fragments.
 Sorbeoconcha - Hydrobiidae
Hydrobiidae indet. Troschel 1857 snail
3 fragmented specimens.
? Bania sp. Brusina 1872 snail
More than 25 mostly fragmented specimens.
 Sorbeoconcha - Emmerciidae
Emmericia sp. Brusina 1870 snail
1 complete shell, more than 15 fragmented shells.
 Sorbeoconcha - Bithyniidae
Bithynia sp. Leach 1818 snail
22 complete calcareous opercula and several operculum fragments.
Reptilia
 Loricata -
Crocodylia indet. crocodilian
70 isolated teeth (LRNr-2001–2070); one osteoderm (LRNr-2282 ).
 Squamata -
Squamata indet. squamates
One osteoderm (LRNr-2281).
 Serpentes -
Serpentes indet. snake
One trunk vertebra (LRNr-2276).
 Squamata - Colubridae
? Natricinae indet. Bonaparte 1838 colubrid snake
One precloacal vertebra (LRNr-2275).
 Squamata - Lacertidae
Lacertidae indet. Bonaparte 1831 squamates
One dentary fragment (LRNr-2255).
Mammalia
 Placentalia -
Chiroptera indet. Blumenbach 1779 bat
from Vasileiadou and Zouros 2012
 Theriamorpha - Soricidae
Soricidae indet. Fischer 1814 shrew
from Vasileiadou and Zouros 2012
 Theriamorpha - Talpidae
Talpidae indet. Fischer de Waldheim 1817 mole
from Vasileiadou and Zouros 2012
 Theriamorpha - Erinaceidae
Erinaceidae indet. Fischer von Waldheim 1817 hedgehog
from Vasileiadou and Zouros 2012
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Democricetodon sp. Fahlbusch 1964 mouse
from Vasileiadou and Zouros 2012
Eumyarion aff. latior Schaub and Zapfe 1953 mouse
aff. latior/weinfurteri; from Vasileiadou and Zouros 2012
 Rodentia - Gliridae
Glirulus diremptus Mayr 1979 Japanese dormouse
from Vasileiadou and Zouros 2012
Amphibia
 Caudata - Urodela
? Mioproteus sp. Estes and Darevsky 1978 mudpuppy
Eight incomplete trunk vertebrae (LRNa- 2244–2251).
 Salientia -
Anura indet. Fischer von Waldheim 1813 frog
One maxillary fragment (LRNa-2253).
Actinopteri
 Cypriniformes - Cyprinidae
Cyprinion sp. Heckel 1843 carp-like fish
One left pharyngeal bone fragment with four teeth (LRNt-55); 397 isolated pharyngeal teeth (LRNt- 1–52, 56–400).
Barbus sp. Cuvier and Cloquet 1816 carp-like fish
585 isolated pharyngeal teeth (LRNt-441–468, 481–973, 981–1037, 1041–1047); 72 lapilli (37 left: LRNl- 2, 8, 9, 32, 40, 41, 113, 119, 122, 134, 135, 150, 151, 209, 212, 216, 223, 238, 239, 260, 283, 284, 286, 301, 303, 304, 311, 320, 321, 331, 348, 355, 358, 359, 362, 371, 388; 35 right: LRNl-6, 23, 26, 31, 42, 43, 107, 121, 133, 139, 157, 158, 215, 218, 231, 243, 247, 250, 254, 274, 276, 288, 305, 314, 319, 322, 338, 339, 347, 351, 352, 353, 357, 368, 389).
Palaeoleuciscus sp. Obrhelová 1969 carp-like fish
One fragmented pharyngeal bone with teeth (LRNt-424); 29 isolated pharyngeal teeth (LRNt-401–423, 425–430); 2 fragments of pharyngeal bone without teeth (LRNt-431–432); 62 lapilli (24 left: LRNl-14, 22, 101, 117, 125, 145, 167, 169, 214, 224, 236, 245, 257, 275, 308, 313, 329, 335, 345, 346, 361, 364, 367, 391; 38 right: LRNl-1, 24, 39, 44, 102, 112, 127, 130, 131, 140, 144, 146, 147, 160, 161, 188, 189, 193, 205, 210, 219, 225, 228, 240, 255, 273, 280, 309, 318, 326, 332, 337, 341, 365, 369, 376, 379, 390).