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Echinoidea, Loveniidae) from the Late Pliocene of Nieuw Namen (The Netherlands

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Echinoidea, Loveniidae) from the Late Pliocene of Nieuw Namen (The Netherlands Contr. Tert. Quatern. Geol. 30(1-2) 75-79 1 fig., 1 pi. Leiden, June 1993 A note on Echinocardium cordatum (Pennant, 1777) (Echinoidea, Loveniidae) from the late Pliocene of Nieuw Namen (The Netherlands) John W.M. Jagt Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht, The Netherlands and J.J. de Vos Terneuzen, The Netherlands Jagt, John W.M., & J J. de Vos. A note on Echinocardium cordatum (Pennant, 1777) (Echinoidea, Loveniidae) from the late Pliocene of Nieuw Namen (The Netherlands). — Contr. Tert. Quatern. Geol., 30(1-2): 75-79, 1 fig., 1 pi. Leiden, June 1993. recorded A well-preserved complete test and a test fragment ofthe loveniid echinoid species Echinocardium cordatum (Pennant, 1777) are from late Pliocene strata (Upper North Sea Group, Oosterhout Formation) as exposed at the de Kauter locality at Nieuw Namen. The of its but limited and the first complete test preserves parts spine canopy, suggesting post-mortem transport, may represent complete echinoid to be recorded from outcropping late Pliocene strata in the SW Netherlands. Key words — Echinoidea, Loveniidae, late Pliocene, Oosterhout Formation, Nieuw Namen, The Netherlands. J.W.M. Jagt, Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht, Postbus 882, 6200 AW Maastricht, The Netherlands; J.J. de Vos, Marijkestraat 20, 4532 BM Terneuzen, The Netherlands. Contents Pleistocene and Holocene echinoid species, which cordatum. For amongst Echinocardium English Introduction 75 p. Cainozoic echinoid faunas reference is made to Description p. 75 Forbes (1852); quite a number of the specimens he Discussion 76 p. described and illustrated have recently been Acknowledgements p. 77 updated taxonomically (Lewis, 1986). References 77 p. From the renowned late Pliocene succession the de Kauter Nieuw Namen exposed at quarry at Introduction (Janssen, 1983a, b), assigned to the Oosterhout For- mation (Upper North Sea Group), a test with spines The echinoid faunas from Miocene, Pliocene and attached of E. cordatum discovered by Mr R. Bleyen- Pleistocene deposits of NW Belgium and the SW the first berg, a private collector, may represent need of Netherlands are still poorly known and in a complete echinoid to be recorded. number of modern revision. Although a recent additions the fauna have papers describing to DESCRIPTION appeared (Geys & Marquet, 1979; Geys, 1989), the from innumerable The 37 in overall rich material collected tempo- complete test (PI. 1) measures mm in the area 31.5 mm in width and 21 in and rary exposures especially Antwerp city length, mm height, and in the dock works on the west Scheldt bank is thus of small to moderate size for the species. The of its remain undescribed to this day. Cotteau (1880) is specimen preserves parts spine canopy, espe- A A IV and IA IA 5 around the still the most extensive work available; it comprises cially on II, on 4, and on the In these areas the the whole Cainozoic but is of course largely out- periproct, plastron. held dated. From various Dutch boreholes, Engel (1941, spines are together by numerous cemented described limited number sand while other denudedand 1953, 1958) a of Pliocene, grains, test areas are 76 show features of ambulacral pores and 'internal' abrasion of the fasciole and reveal a slight tubercles. but limited This suggests post-mortem transport; the test may even have been preserved within its burrow (compare Bromley & Asgaard, 1975), but this has unfortuntely not been noted during collec- tion. Periproctal and peristomial plating are not preserved. The labrum and adjacent ambulacral which be columns are broken (PI. 1, Fig. 3), may an indication of but well be predation, may equally taphonomy-related. Spine form and arrangement correspond exactly to what has been described in the literature for Recent and fossil representatives of this species, which has been exhaustively studied in almost every respect (see e.g. Moore, 1936; Nichols, 1959; Buchanan, 1966; Ernst et al., 1973; Smith, 1980a, b, 1984; David & Laurin, 1991 and Kana- zawa, 1992). This complete test was collected from the sandy unit between 1,95 and 3,25 m below surface in Janssen's (1983a, b) section, and has subsequently been deposited in one of the authors' (JJV) private collection. It will be donated to the Hulst municipal museum. The second specimen (Fig. 1), collected in 1959 by Mr G. de Zeeuw (Zaamslag), is but a fragment and material. the does not preserve test However, Fig. 1. Test fragment of Echinocardium cordatum (Pennant, 1777), side detail of ambulacral late Pliocene Oosterhout Formation, Nieuw Namen-de upper preserves enough Kauter, province of Zeeland, The Netherlands, col- and interambulacral plate structure and arrange- lected in 1959 by G. de Zeeuw, x 3.5. ment for it to be confidently assigned to E. cordatum. shows The inside of this fragment numerous single each of which calcite crystals represents a single test plate, slightly different from but otherwise compara- Lawson, 1978; Maczynska, 1979, 1988). E. cordatum ble with hemiasterid and nucleolitid echinoid crys- has been recorded from the Coralline Crag by tals in the late Maastrichtian occurring Lanaye & Forbes (1852), an age-equivalent deposit (Jenkins Member (Gulpen Formation) as exposed at the Houghton, 1987; Balson, 1990; Balson et al., 1993) ENCI NV south ofMaastricht Nether- quarry, (The of the Oosterhout Formation from which the pre- This test was also collected lands). fragmentary sent material has been collected. In modern echi- below the indurated darkbrown limonitic sandstone noid faunas, the species is widely distributed and in and below in occurring between 1,70 1,80 m surface fact truly cosmopolitan (Mortensen, 1927[1971]; Janssen's (1983a, b) lithologic log. Ghiold & Hoffman, 1989). From the fossil record either tests or test frag- have ments or the highly typical bioturbation traces DISCUSSION been described (Bromley & Asgaard, 1975; Raven, Ekdale There can be no doubt as to the identity of these 1982; et al., 1984; Colella & d'Alessandro, echinoids from Nieuw Namen. two Amongst repre- 1988; Bromley, 1990). sentatives of the Echinocardium E. The the Nieuw Namen-de Kau- genus Gray, 1825, strata exposed at cordatum is the and best known type probably spe- ter locality are assigned to the Oosterhout Forma- tion cies. The fossil record of the genus extends back to (Janssen, 1983a, b; Rijks Geologische Dienst, and considered coeval with the NW Bel- the Oligocene (Fischer, 1966, p. U613), and 1988) are modern Merksem Sands Member the Lillo Forma- numerous fossil and species have been gian of recorded in the literature (e.g. Cooke, 1959; Kier & tion. In benthic foraminifer terms (Willems et al., 77 these B & 1988; Doppert, 1988) strata represent zone Ekdale, A.A., R.G. Bromley S.G. Pemberton, 1984. Ichnol- The Use of Trace Fossils in Sedimentology and Strati- 12, the Elphidiella hannai-Cribrononionexcavatum ogy. graphy. — Society of Economic Paleontologists and Miner- Assemblage Zone (BFN 6 Zone) of de Meuter & alogists, Short Course, 15: 1-317. Laga (1976). The Kruisschans and Merksem Sands Engel, H., 1941. Tertiaire en Quartaire echinodermen uit bor- Members in (Lillo Formation) as the Ant- in Nederland. — exposed ingen Geologie en Mijnbouw, 3(1): 5-17. and northern well the 1953. Echinoidea. In: H.D.M. Burck Pliocene werp Kempen areas, as as Engel, H., (ed.). and Lower Pleistocene in Oosterhout. — Walton Member of the Red Crag of the London a boring near Mededelingen van de Geologische Stichting, 7: 37. Basin and n.s., 36, east Anglia were referred by Hinsch Engel, H., 1958. Echinocyamus pusillus (O.F. Miiller). — (1988) to the late Pliocene (Merksemian/Waltonian) de Mededelingen van Geologische Stichting, n.s., 11: 41, 42, benthic molluscan zone BM 22 C (Laevicardium pi. 27. parkinsoni-Spisula inaequilatera-Nucella lapilla Ernst, G., W. Hahnel & E. Seibertz, 1973. Aktuopalaontologie incrassata und Merkmalsvariabilitat bei mediterranen Echiniden und Zone), which corresponds to Sliggers & Riickschliisse auf die Okologie und Artumgrenzung fossiler van Leeuwen's (1987) molluscan zone C. Formen. — Palaontologische Zeitschrift, 47(3/4): 188-216, pis 30, 31. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Fischer, A.G., 1966. Spatangoids. In\ R.C. Moore (ed.). Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part U, Echinodermata 3(2): We wish to extend our best thanks to W. Krull U 543-U 628. Boulder and Lawrence (Geological Society of for Dr A.V. (Oostburg) preparing photographs, America and University of Kansas Press). and Dhondt A.W. Janssen for items of literature, Forbes, E., 1852. Monograph of the Echinodermata of the Brit- ish Tertiaries. — of the and R. Bleyenberg, G. de Zeeuw, and L. de Putter Monographs Palaeontographical of 1852: 36 1-4. Society London, pp., pis for making specimens available for study. 1989. On the of Gracilechinus Geys, J.F., presence (Echinoidea, Echinidae) in the late Miocene of the Antwerp area (Bel- — REFERENCES gium). Mededelingen van de Werkgroep voor Tertiaire en Kwartaire Geologie, 26(1): 3-10, 1 pi. Balson, P.S., 1990. The - Neogene of East Anglia a field excur- Geys, J.F., & R. Marquet, 1979. Strongylocentrotus pallidus sion In: Hooker Correlation in the North Sea report. J .J. (ed.). (G.O. Sars, 1871), an addition to the echinoderm fauna of Basin — Tertiary. Tertiary Research, 179-189, 1 — 11(2-4): pi. the Scaldisian (Pliocene) in Belgium. Mededelingen van Balson, P.S., S.J. Mathers & J.A. Zalasiewicz, 1993. The de Tertiaire Werkgroep voor en Kwartaire Geologie, 16(4): of lithostratigraphy the Coralline Crag (Pliocene) of Suffolk. 131-138, pi. 1. — of the Proceedings Geologists' Association, 104(1): 59-70. Ghiold, J., & A. Hoffman, 1989. Biogeography of spatangoid 1990. Trace Fossils. and — Bromley, R.G., Biology Taphonomy. echinoids. Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Palaon- London xi + 1-280. (Unwin Hyman), tologie, Abhandlungen, 178(1): 59-83. R.G., & U. 1975. Sediment 1988. Benthic molluscs Bromley, Asgaard, structures pro- Hinsch, W., (Pelecypods, Gastropods). duced echinoid: by a spatangoid a problem of preservation. The description ofthe interregional zonation (BM zones) and — Bulletin of the of geological Society Denmark, 24: its correlation with the regional lithostratigraphy.
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