A re-appraisal of the middle-late Miocene fossil decapod crustaceans of the ‘Faluns’ (Anjou-Touraine, France)

Abstract

The access to a new collection of decapod crustaceans collected from the middle-late Miocene ‘Faluns’, and examination of new specimens available, have allowed to expand the previous compilations by Couffon (1908) and Ossó & Gagnaison (2019), elevating to nineteen the species reported, representatives of seventeen genera and fourteen families. Squat lobsters and parthenopid crabs are reported for the first time in the Atlantic Miocene of France. The expected presence of Xantho moldavicus (Yanakevich, 1977) and Lobocarcinus sismondai (von Meyer, 1843), hitherto known only by chelae, is confirmed herein. The status of Haydnella pulchellus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1864) is discussed. Moreover, the ventral features of Necronectes michelini (A. Milne-Edwards, 1861) are described for the first time. This decapod assemblage presents clear affinity with coeval decapod faunas from the Mediterranean and Paratethys realm, as evidenced by the presence of identical species such as Liocarcinus kuehni (Bachmayer, 1953) or Pilumnus mediterraneus (Lőrenthey, 1897), which is by far, the most common decapod in the ‘Faluns’ outcrops. Several different chelae and carapace remains are left in open nomenclature.