Notes on the Fauna of the Chipola Formation - XXIII On the Occurrence of the Genus Basterotia (Mollusca:Bivalvia)

Abstract

The genus Basterotia Mayer in HOrnes, 1859, type species B. corlruloides Mayer in Homes, described from the Tortonian (late middle Miocene) of the Vienna Basin, is represented in the fauna of the Burdigalian (late lower Miocene) Chipola Formation of western Florida by two species, one referable to Basterotia sensu stricto, the other to the subgenus Basterotella Olsson and Harbison, 1953; each represents the oldest presently known occurrence of the respective subgenus in the western Hemisphere. The form described by Aldrich as "Basterotia? prima" from the lower Eocene Wilcox Formation of Alabama is not a member of this genus (see below).