Studies on the Molluscan Paleomacrofauna of the Texas Paleogene
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STUDIES ON THE MOLLUSCAN PALEOMACROFAUNA OF THE TEXAS PALEOGENE 384. THE MOLLUSC AN MACROFAUNA OF T HE SEGUIN FOR M A T ION (UPPER PALEOCENE ) IN CEN T RAL TEXAS 385. ADDI T IONS T O T HE MOLLUSCAN MACROFAUNA OF T HE REKLAW FOR M A T ION (EOCENE : LOWER CLAIBORNIAN ) AND TWO NEW TAXA FRO M T HE MIDDLE CLAIBORNIAN IN TEXAS 386. NEW EOCENE MOLLUSCA FRO M T HE COLLEC T IONS OF T HE TEXAS NA T URAL SCIENCE CEN T ER Christopher L. Garvie Bulletins of American Paleontology Number 384-386, March 2013 BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY Established 1895 Paula M. Mikkelsen Warren D. Allmon Editor-in-Chief Director Editorial Board Jason S. Anderson, University of Calgary Kenneth Angielczyk, Field Museum of Natural History Rituparna Bose, City University of New York Carlton Brett, University of Cincinnati Ann F. Budd, University of Iowa Peter Dodson, University of Pennsylvania Daniel Fisher, University of Michigan Dana H. Geary, University of Wisconsin-Madison Peter J. 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Garvie Bulletins of American Paleontology Numbers 384-386, March 2013 ISSN 0007-5779 ISBN 978-0-87710-500-8 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2013934944 © 2013, Paleontological Research Institution, 1259 Trumansburg Road, Ithaca, New York 14850, U. S. A. THE MOLLUSCAN MACROFAUNA OF THE SEGUIN FORMATION (UPPER PALEOCENE) IN CENTRAL TEXAS Christopher L. Garvie Non-vertebrate Paleontology, Texas Natural Science Center, The University of Texas at Austin, 10100 Burnet Road, Austin, Texas 78758, email [email protected]. ABstract Investigation of known Seguin localities led to the discovery of an overlooked diverse and abundant marine fauna in Solomon's Branch, a stream in Bastrop County, Texas. The fauna, a transported assemblage from a marine littoral environment, encompasses a mix of specimen types from large wave-worn individuals to the smallest unworn ornamented species. Following the discovery of this fauna, further field work was undertak- en and other Seguin localities with different depositional environments were found and collections made from those sites. Finally, a further suite of specimens was examined within the Texas Natural Science Center, some from localities no longer in existence or now lost. The environment is transitional in character from the deeper water Midway to the nonmarine environment of the chiefly terrestrial Texas Wilcox deposits, and repre- sents the last major marine transgression in this area prior to the Eocene. The fauna is a mix of that derived from early Paleocene and Cretaceous taxa as well as elements that appear to originate from western Africa, the Tethyan region, and the western coast of America. The inferred species' habitat includes a near-shore open marine element, a probable lagoonal component, and brackish water elements. From the 115 molluscan taxa recognized, six have not been recognized to date in sediments later than the Cretaceous, and 30 represent from the Eocene or later records. The following new gastropod genera and subgenera are proposed: Texaficus, Crassauris, Latirus (Levarlatirus), Praesurcula, and Apiotoma (Lavarotoma). The following new species and subspecies are described: Bivalvia:Calorhadia diminutia, Adrana seguinensis, Bornia solomonis, Mactra (Eomactra) piscinasina, Arcopagia (Arcopagia) solomonis, A. (Johnsonella) seguinensis; Gastropoda: Turritella mortoni crassa, Tylotrochus extremus, Teinostoma (Idioraphie) seguinensis, Cochliolepis (Tylaxis) palaeocenica, Solariorbis velarum, Natica (Carinacca) seguinensis, Polinices (Euspira) perspecta texana, Texmelanatria contracta, T. brevis, Loxotrema texana, Pseudoliva globosa, Cantharus seguinensis, Colwellia humerosa, C. nodulina, C. nodulina meta, Tritiaria? seguinensis, Metula reticulata, Latirus (Levarlatirus) undus, L. (Levarlatirus) textilis, Strepsidura cancellata, Texaficus obesus, Levifusus pagoda seguinensis, L. actuocarinata, Fulgurofusus grande, Palaeorhaphis palaeocenica, Volutocorbis olssoni gracilis, Eoancilla hordea, Caveola ostium, Clinuropsis yanceyi, C. tuberculata, Praesurcula palaeocenica, Coronia vallare, Eopleurotoma molineuxae, Tropisurcula? (Eodrillia) cingula, Apiotoma (Lavarotoma) alva, Crassauris seguinensis, Pyramidella (Syrnola) bilineata, Turbonilla (Chemnitzia) obliqueata, Odostoma (Doliella) deprimere, Cylichna (Cylichnopsis) bicarinata, Mnestia ovata, Retusa (Cylichnina) bastropensis; Cephalopoda: Cimomia contraria, Angulithes? palaeocenica. Other changes in taxonomic assignment include: the genus Lisbonia is moved from the Nassariidae to the Buccinidae; the genus Palaeorhaphis is moved from the Mitridae to the Fasciolariidae; the genus Fictoacteon is made a subgenus of Eoacteon; Baluchicardia wilcoxensis replaces Venericardia wilcoxensis; Cochlodesma howei replaces Periploma howei; Pachymelania penrosei replaces Cerithium penrosei; Lisbonia pauper replaces Pseudoliva ostrarupis pauper; Pleuroploca plummeri replaces Fasciolaria? plummeri; Fulgurofusus perobliquus replaces aff. Falsifusus perobliquus; Eoancilla mediavia replaces Ancilla mediavia; Apiotoma (Lavarotoma) capex replaces "Pleurotoma" capex; the genus Ancillarina should be used in place of Ancilla for several U. S. and European Eocene species; the genus Coronia is discussed and several species of that genus in the U. S. Gulf Coast are reassigned to Gemmula; the genus Protosurcula is moved from the Borsoniinae to the Cochlespirinae. Neotypes are designated for Turritella polysticha and Pseudoliva ostrarupis. INTRODUCTION cate some localities described by Gardner (1935), the author This monograph is the continuation of a project to investigate visited Solomon's Branch in Bastrop County where large con- the central Texas Tertiary molluscan faunas in finer tempo- cretions, up to 2 m in diameter, were found in the creek bed, ral resolution than is presently known. The Middle Eocene and in situ embedded in the creek-side walls. Many of these Claibornian Texas faunas are well known from the results of contained a layer of densly concentrated fossil shells, some numerous studies, particularly those of Palmer (1937), Harris very large. Even a cursory examination indicated the existence (1937), Stenzel (1943), Stenzel & Turner (1943), Stenzel et of many new forms. The discovery of a fauna from a nearshore al. (1957), and Garvie (1996); for the underlying Midway litoral environment is of particular interest, because there ap- Group (Paleocene), Harris (1895a, 1896) and Gardner (1935) pears to be no other known from a similar environment in the should be mentioned. During exploratory field work to relo- Gulf Coast Paleogene. 2 Bulletins of American Paleontology, No. 384 HISTORY topmost fossiliferous marine unit of the Paleocene in Texas, Harris (1895a, 1897a) originally described fossils coming from however, Beckman & Turner (1943) noted a marine lentil 61 Smiley's Bluff, from a well near Elgin, and doubtfully from m above the top of the Caldwell Knob Member in Milam Rocky Cedar Creek, near Elmo, Kaufman County, which he County, and recent work by Yancey (pers. comm., 2011) has regarded as being in the Midway Stage. The first evidence of established that marine mollusks and shark teeth occur in marine deposits of lower Wilcox age west of the Sabine River the upper part of the Calvert Bluff Formation indicating that was reported by Trowbridge (1923) and Gardner (1923), marine strata do occur well up into the Wilcox Group. The and was expanded on by Gardner (1924). F. B. Plummer in Seguin Formation is recognized as a surface outcrop up to 1.5 Sellards et al. (1933: 574) defined the Seguin Formation to km wide, extending from the Trinity River to the Rio Grande encompass all marine strata between the compact silty clays of (F. B. Plummer in Sellards et al., 1933), and on into Mexico the Midway Group and the base of the nonmarine Rockdale (Perrilliat & Vega, 2003). In the subsurface, the thickness has (now Wilcox) Formation and further divided it into two been measured as between