Eucalathis tauriniensis ( Seguenza, 1866 )

Dulai, A., 2013, Sporadic Miocene brachiopods in the Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Leiden, the Netherlands): Records from the Mediterranean, the North Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean, Fragmenta Palaeontologica Hungarica 30, pp. 15-51 : 41-42

Eucalathis tauriniensis ( Seguenza, 1866)

( Figs 68–69)

Material – Berzano di San Pietro (1 dorsal and 1 ventral valve).

Size (mm) –

Length 2.4

Width 2.6

Notes – E. tauriniensis is a very rare terebratulide from the Italian Neogene. The limited available NBC material (1 dorsal and 1 ventral valve) from the Middle Miocene (Langhian) of Berzano di San Pietro is very similar to Terebratulina tauriniensis described by SEGUENZA (1866) on the basis of a single dorsal valve. Later DAVIDSON (1870) also studied only one complete specimen from the Middle Miocene of Gassino (Piedmont). DAVIDSON (1870) mentioned erroneously, that this form might be no more than a young stage of Terebratulina caput-serpentis (= Terebratulina retusa ). In the revised Treatise LEE et al. (2006) identified T. tauriniensis as member of the genus Eucalathis . The studied material is well comparable with the figured specimens by both SEGUENZA (1866) and DAVIDSON (1870) (e.g. outline, number of ribs, and beaded, tuberculate character of ribs). Recently DULAI (2010 a) described E. aff. tauriniensis from the Late Miocene deposits of Borelli ( Italy, Piemonte). This latter form is more elongated, the outline is not subcircular but subtrigonal, its beak is higher and the ribs are without any beads.

This limited material confirms that E. tauriniensis was a very rare but consistently occurring member of the Middle Miocene deeper water brachiopod fauna of the Italian Mediterranean. Until now, this species is known only from the Miocene of Italy.