First record of the bivalve species Parvamussium fenestratum (Forbes, 1844) from the Middle Miocene of the Paratethys

Abstract

This is the first Paratethyan record of a minute scallop species Parvamussium fenestratum (Forbes, 1844). The species was found in Middle Miocene (Upper Badenian) clayey deposits in the Surzha borehole, the Ukrainian Carpathian Foredeep Basin. Examination of other Parvamussium specimens stored in the Museum of the Earth in Warsaw and in the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest revealed further Paratethyan records of Parvamussium fenestratum. These specimens, previously referred to Parvamussium felsineum (Foresti, 1893), were identified in the Middle Miocene faunas of Poland (Monastyrz and Długi Goraj, Roztocze Hills) and Hungary (Makkoshotyka, Tokaj Mts.). In the Mediterranean Neogene this extremely rare species has been reported from the Lower Miocene (uppermost Burdigalian) of Italy and from the Lower Pliocene (Zanclean) of Spain. Research on the Oligocene–Miocene succession in the Paratethys has shown representatives of Parvamussium Sacco, 1897 to be moderately abundant in clayey facies in different basins and the genus is regarded as biostratigraphically important. Data on the distribution of other Paratethyan and Neogene Mediterranean Parvamussium species viz., Parvamussium bronni (Mayer, 1861), P. duodecimlamellatum (Bronn, 1831), P. felsineum (Foresti, 1893) and P. miopliocenicum (Ruggieri, 1949) are reported. Finally, palaeobiological and palaeobiogeographical characteristics on the genus Parvamussium Sacco, 1897 the Early Cretaceous to Recent time span are described.