The bivalve fauna from the Ortenburg Marine Sands in the well-core “Straß” (?Late Aquitanian/Early Burdigalian; SE Germany) – Taxonomy, stratigraphy, paleoecology, and paleogeography

This paper provides the first description and illustration of a bivalve assemblage from the Eggenburgian (Upper Aquitanian/Lower Burdigalian) Ortenburg Marine Sands recovered from a well-core from Straß near Ortenburg (Lower Bavaria, SE Germany).Nucinella dobergensis (Lienenklaus) is recorded new for the Miocene and the Paratethys Sea;Limopsis cf.aurita (Brocchi) is also new to the Paratethys realm.Montacuta schafferiKautsky was previously known only from the Middle Miocene of Austria. Pectinids are represented by two stratigraphically significant species pointing to a middle Eggenburgian or/and Early Ottnangian age. Two different benthic communities can be distinguished: (1) TheSpaniodontella-Plagiocardium-community, indicative of the well-oxygenized shallow marine inner shelf sandy deposits that are typical for the Straß ecosystem, and (2) aCorbula-community that became established after an interval of muddy sedimentation most probably related to sea-level fluctuations. It probably documents re-colonization by the (oxygen) opportunistCorbula gibba (Olivi) after an ecological turn-over. Comparison with bivalve inventories recorded for ecosystems elsewhere in Europe suggests a close relationship of the Straß fauna to the faunas of the proto-Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic regions.