The stratigraphic position of the lower Miocene Kiel Sand Member of the Berchem Formation in the Antwerp area (northern Belgium) is not well constrained and its depositional environments are poorly known. Due to a spatial limited decalcification front, the Kiel Sand Member is completely decalcified in southern Antwerp and gradually becomes fossiliferous to the north-east of the city. The stratigraphy and palaeontology of the fossiliferous sediments in three temporary exposures are presented. The dinoflagellate cyst analysis of fossiliferous horizons shows the relative progress of a transgression in the southern North Sea Basin during the early–middle Burdigalian, that probably initiated in the late Aquitanian. The Kiel Sand Member contains an important mollusc fauna, with several species reported for the first time from this member. The taphonomy and fauna of the shell beds indicate a shallow marine, high energetic depositional environment, strongly influenced by storms, currents, waves and a rather low sedimentation rate. The climate was warm-temperate to subtropical. In all studied sections, the Kiel Sand Member could be clearly distinguished from the Antwerpen Sand Member: similarities and differences are discussed. Moving to the north of Antwerp, the erosive base of the Antwerpen Sand Member cuts deeper into the Kiel Sand Member. The Early Miocene Unconformity (EMU) is suggested at this contact.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
The ocean sunfishes of the family Molidae comprise one of the tetraodontiform clades with the least known fossil record. Here, we report on what appears to be an isolated paraxial ossicle likely pertaining to the Molidae from a widely known marine vertebrate-bearing deposit of Southern Italy, i.e., the Miocene Pietra Leccese formation of Apulia. Thus far, paraxial ossicles are exclusively known from the genus Mola; however, the possibility that some extinct species of Ranzania or Masturus developed paraxial ossicles cannot be definitively ruled out, hence the attribution of the fossil described herein to an indeterminate taxon of the family Molidae. A careful scrutiny of palaeoichthyological literature reveals that, besides contributing to the meagre Mediterranean and global fossil record of the Molidae, the Apulian ossicle may be regarded as the best candidate to represent the first fossil find of the genus Mola from the Mediterranean Basin. In light of the environmental preferences of extant molids, the occurrence of an ocean sunfish in the Pietra Leccese matches well the warm-water, highly productive, outer neritic setting witnessed by this sedimentary unit and its fossil content. Considering also that the Miocene has been recognised as a time span of increased abundance and diversity of ocean sunfishes worldwide, our find should encourage the quest for new, hopefully articulated specimens of molids in this celebrated fossiliferous limestone.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021 OA
