New Molluscan Faunas from the Eocene of South Carolina

Abstract

Over 80 Eocene molluscan species have been identified from the Southern Aggregates Orangeburg quarry near Cross, South Carolina, doubling the total reported fauna from the Santee Limestone. Use of latex peels and casts greatly facilitated the identification of leached aragonitic species. Some supposed endemics proved to be synonymous with Gulf Coast species. About 50%of the molluscan species collected at this quarry are also found in the Cook Mountain Formation and 35% are found in the Gosport Sand. The faunule from the nearby Martin Marietta Berkeley quarry is similar. The chronological ranges of some species found at these localities differ between South Carolina and the Gulf Coast. Some distinctive endemics are present, including a new genus, Santeevoluta (Volutidae), as well as taxa previously known solely from the Gulf Coast or Florida. Younger deposits are present in the Giant Portland quarry, near Harleyville, South Carolina. Taxa include the new species Batequeus ducenticostatus (Pectinidae). Additional materia l from the Martin Marietta Georgetown and Southern Aggregates Jamestown quarries, near Jamestown South Carolina, represents a deeper water facies of the Santee Limestone.