The fossil continental mollusks in the upper freshwater molasse (Middle Miocene) of the districts of Biberach, Ravensburg and Neu-Ulm, Germany

Abstract

-The present work is a taxonomical study of the continental mollusks collected in several fossil outcrops in the districts of Biberach and Ravensburg (SE Baden-Württemberg state) and Neu-Ulm (SW Bavaria state), Germany, by one of the authors (V.J.S.) in the years 1983-2013. All these fossil sites are of Middle Miocene age (European Mammal Neogene zones MN 5 and MN 6) and belong to the Upper Freshwater Molasse ("Obere Süßwassermolasse" or OSM), in the North Alpine Foreland Basin of southern Germany. The molluscan fauna of these sites counts with 17 gastropod and three bivalve species: Tinnyea laureae, Pomatias sp., Bithynia sp., Theodoxus sp., Galba cf. 202REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE PALEONTOLOGIA, 18(2), 2015 MATERIAL AND METHODSThe mollusk-bearing fossil sites in the districts of Biberach, Ravensburg and Neu-Ulm can be seen in Figure 1, as named by Sach (1999. The Middle Miocene fossil sites studied here are detailed below. Lattentobel: 47º49'49.70'', N 9º25'57.63''E; fine-sand horizons with reworked OSM components, ~610 m; Mammal Neogene zone MN 6. 10º06'39.93''E; fi nesand horizons with reworked OSM components, ~562-566 m a.s.l.; additional fi ne-sand horizon with bivalves (Margaritifera fl abellata) at ~570 m a.s.l.; Mammal Neogene zone MN 5. Biberach District Neu-Ulm District

Fossil molluscs from the Middle Miocene of Öhningen, southwestern Germany

“…In other Middle Miocene lakes in southern Germany, bivalves are very scarce or completely absent (e.g., SalvadoR 2013, SalvadoR et al 2015a). In contrast, bivalve assemblages similar to the present one have been reported from some OSM fluviatile deposits (schneideR & PRieto 2011, SalvadoR et al 2015b; though none are coeval with Öhningen). So, it is expected that the palaeoenvironment at Öhningen would be particularly amenable to bivalves, though the reasons for that remain uncertain.…”

The late middle Miocene non-marine mollusk fauna of Vračević (Serbia): filling a gap in Miocene land snail biogeography

“…Information on the stratigraphic ages of the faunas derives from Gaál (1910Gaál ( , 1911, Schütt (1967), Gozhik & Prysjazhnjuk (1978), Lueger (1981), Esu (1999), Kadolsky & Piechocki (2000), Harzhauser & Binder (2004), Kókay (2006), Stworzewicz et al (2013), Harzhauser et al (2014a, b) and Salvador et al (2015a). The assemblages of the Bakony Mts.…”

“…-Appears in the late early Miocene in the North Alpine Foreland Basin and the Korneuburg Basin (e.g., Wenz 1923, Binder 2002, Jost et al 2007, becomes ubiquitous during the middle Miocene (e.g., Schlickum 1976;Gál et al 2000;Kókay 2006;Hír & Kókay 2010;Harzhauser et al 2014a;Salvador et al 2015aSalvador et al , b, 2016b; partly as P. cornu) and disappears during the late Miocene (Harzhauser & Binder 2004 Sandberger, 1874. -Kó-kay, p. 47, pl.…”

“…The middle Miocene is a comparably well-studied time interval, but the majority of species still derives from few localities in central Europe, such as Steinheim am Albuch (e.g., Miller 1900, Gottschick 1911, Jooss 1912, Finger 1998, Undorf (Clessin 1877(Clessin , 1885(Clessin , 1894(Clessin , 1912 and the Upper Freshwater Molasse (e.g., Schlickum 1976;Salvador 2014;Salvador & Rasser 2014Salvador et al 2015a in southern Germany, the Rein Basin in Austria (Harzhauser et al 2014a), the Bakony Mts. in Hungary (Kókay 2006), and Nowa Wieś Królewska near Opole [= Königlich Neudorf bei Oppeln] in southern Poland (Andreae 1902a, b;1904).…”

The Suoidea from the Middle Miocene of Gračanica (Bugojno Basin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)—evolution, taxononomy, and biostratigraphy

“…Ravensburg is in the OSM. Molluscs from there are claimed to be MN6 (Salvador et al 2015), but it is not clear in how far this is applicable to the mammals. The largest (and most evolved) B. lockharti incisor is from there and the site was believed to be latest MN5 (Van der Made 1996).…”