Hyžný M. & Mihálik D., 2024: Decapod crustacean assemblage from the middle Miocene (Badenian) of the Oslip sand pit, Austria (Eisenstadt-Sopron Basin). Acta Geologica Slovaca, 16, 2, 61–77.

Decapod crustacean assemblage from the middle Miocene (Badenian) of the Oslip sand pit, Austria (Eisenstadt-Sopron Basin)

Matúš Hyžný¹ & Dominik Mihálik²

¹Department of Geology and Paleontology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, SK-842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia; matus.hyzny@uniba.sk
²Potvorice 80, SK-916 25 Potvorice, Slovakia

Abstract

From the sands of the Baden Group exposed in the Oslip sand pit (Eisenstadt-Sopron Basin; Burgenland, Austria), numerous isolated decapod crustacean claw elements were collected. The age of the material is indirectly assigned to the late Badenian (early Serravallian). The decapod assemblage consists of axiidean ghost shrimps (Callichiridae gen. et sp. indet.), paguroid hermit crabs (Petrochirus priscus), and brachyuran crabs (Lucanthonisia eotvoesi, Calappa heberti, Maja sp., Parthenopoides tetenyensis, Actumnus telegdii, Liocarcinus rakosensis, Charybdis fragilis, Xantho moldavicus). Taxonomically, the assemblage is close to the upper Badenian decapod assemblages from the Budapest area, Hungary. All studied decapod specimens are represented by isolated and often fragmentary cheliped elements. The assemblage is dominated by heavily calcified elements, notably of right dactyli (movable fingers) of C. heberti and remains of crusher claws of L. rakosensis. The lithology of the fossil-bearing settings and the fragmentary nature of decapod material suggests a near-shore, shallow marine environment with high hydrodynamic energy.

Key words: Decapoda, Axiidea, Paguroidea, Brachyura, Serravallian, taxonomy, palaeoenvironment

Manuscript received: 2024-05-28

Revised version accepted: 2024-11-11