Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology

444 Pages·1991·40.8 MB·English

by  British Museum (Natural History)

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BRITISH MUSEUM
(NATURAL HISTORY)
Bulletin -4SEP199!
PRESENTED
MuseumSENERAL LIBRARY
British
(Natural History)
Geology
Series
Neogene crabs from Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak;
New pseudosciurids from the English Late Eocene;
Upper Palaeozoic Anomalodesmatan Bivalvia
VOLUME NUMBER AUGUST
47 29 1991
1
1 1
The BulletinoftheBritishMuseum (NaturalHistory),institutedin 1949, isissuedin
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WorldListabbreviation: Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Geol.)
© British Museum(Natural History), 1991
ISBN 565 07029 Geology Series
ISSN 0007-147 Vol47No 1 pp 1-100
British Museum(Natural History)
Cromwell Road
London SW7 5BD Issued29August 99
1
»611
Bull. Br. Mus.nat. Hist. (Geol.)47(1): 1-33 Issued29August 1991
Neogene crabs from Brunei, Sabah and
BRITISH MUSEUM
Sarawak (NATURAL HISTORY)
-4S£P|99f
PRESENTED
MORRIS
S. F. GENERAL LIBRARY
DepartmentofPalaeontology, British Museum (NaturalHistory), CromwellRoad, London~SW75BD
J. S. H. COLLINS
63 OakhurstGrove, London SE229AH
CONTENTS
Introduction 2
Thefaunaanditspalaeoecology 3
Stratigraphy 3
Localities 4
Systematicpalaeontology 4
SectionPodotremata,SubsectionArchaeobrachyuraGuinot 4
SuperfamilyRaninoidea,FamilyRaninidaedeHaan 4
GenusRaninoidesMilneEdwards 4
Raninoidessp 4
SectionHeterotremataGuinot 5
SuperfamilyDorippoidea,FamilyDorippidaedeHaan 5
GenusDorippeWeber,s.str 5
Dorippe(Dorippe)frascone(Herbst)tuberculatassp.nov 5
SuperfamilyCalappoidea,FamilyCalappidaedeHaan 5
GenusCalappaWeber 5
Calappasexaspinosasp.nov 5
SuperfamilyPortunoidea,FamilyPortunidaeRafinesque 6
SubfamilyPodophthalminaeMiers 6
GenusPodophthalmusLamarck 6
Podophthalmusfusiformissp.nov 6
SubfamilyPortuninaeRafinesque 6
GenusCharybdisdeHaan 6
Charybdis(Charybdis)feriata(Linne)bruneiensisssp.nov 7
GenusPortunusWeber 7
Portunusobvallatussp.nov 7
Portunuswoodwardisp.nov 8
SuperfamilyXanthoidea,FamilyXanthidaeDana 8
GenusGalenedeHaan 8
Galenestipatasp.nov 8
SuperfamilyParthenopoidea,FamilyParthenopidaeMacleay 9
GenusParthenopeWeber,SubgenusRhinolambrusMilne-Edwards 9
Parthenope(Rhinolambrus)sublitoralissp.nov 9
SuperfamilyLeucosioidea,FamilyLeucosiidaeSamouelle 10
GenusAmpliuranov 10
Ampliurasimplexgen.etsp.nov 10
GenusDrachiellaGuinotinSerene&Soh 10
Drachiellaguinotaesp.nov 10
GenusIphiculusAdams&White 1
Iphiculusgranulatussp.nov 11
Iphiculusmiriensissp.nov 1
Iphiculussexspinosussp.nov 13
GenusLeucosiaWeber '3
Leucosialongiangulatasp.nov 13
Leucosiasereneisp.nov 13
Leucosiatutongensissp.nov 15
GenusMyraLeach 15
Myrabrevisulcatasp.nov '5
Myrasubcarinatasp.nov '
Myratrispinosasp.nov '
GenusNuciaDana '6
MORRIS&COLLINS
Nuciaborneoensissp.nov 19
Nuciacalculoidessp.nov 19
Nuciacoxisp.nov 19
GenusNucilobusnov 20
Nucilobussymmetricusgen.etsp.nov 20
GenusPariphiculusAlcock 21
PariphiculusgselliBeetsbeetsissp.nov 21
Pariphiculuspapillosussp.nov 21
Pariphiculusverrucosussp.nov 21
GenusPhilyraLeach 23
Philyragranulosasp.nov 23
GenusTypilobusStoliczka 23
Typilobusmarginatussp.nov 23
Typilobussp 24
SectionThoracotremataGuinot 24
SuperfamilyGrapsoidea,FamilyGrapsidaeMacleay 24
GenusPalaeograpsusBittner 24
Palaeograpsusbittnerisp.nov 24
SuperfamilyPinnotheroidea,FamilyPinnotheridaedeHaan 26
SubfamilyPinnotherinaedeHaan 26
GenusPinnixaWhite 26
Pinnixaaequipunctatasp.nov 26
Pinnixaomegasp.nov 26
SuperfamilyHexapodoidea,FamilyHexapodidaeMiers 28
SubfamilyHexapodinaeMiers 28
GenusPrepaedumanov 28
Prepaedumadecapodagen.etsp.nov 28
SubfamilyXenophthalminaeAlcock 29
GenusXenophthalmusWhite 29
Xenophthalmussubitussp.nov 29
SuperfamilyOcypodoidea,FamilyOcypodidaeRafinesque 29
SubfamilyMacrophthalminaeDana 29
GenusMacrophthalmusLatreilleinDesmarest,SubgenusMareotisBarnes 29
Macrophthalmus(Mareotis)wilfordisp.nov 29
References 32
SYNOPSIS. Thirty-six species of fossil crab are described and figured from the Neogene of Sabah, Sarawak and
Brunei. The following 3 genera, 31 species and 3 subspecies are new: Dorippe frascone tuberculata, Calappa
sexaspinosa, Podophthalmusfusiformis, Charybdisferiata bruneiensis, Portunusobvallatus, P. woodwardi, Galene
stipata, Parthenope (Rhinolambrus) sublitoralis, Ampliura (gen. nov.) simplex, Drachiella guinotae, Iphiculus
granulatus, I. miriensis, I. sexspinosus, Leucosia longiangulata, L. serenei, L. tutongensis, Myra brevisulcata, M.
subcarinata, M. trispinosa, Nucia borneoensis, N. calculoides, N. coxi, Nucilobwi (gen. nov.) symmetricus,
Pariphiculus gselli beetsi, P. papillosus, P. verrucosus, Philyra granulosa, Typilobus marginatus, Palaeograpsus
bittneri, Pinnixa aequipunctata, P. omega, Prepaeduma (gen. nov.) decapoda, Xenophthalmussubitus, Macroph-
thalmus (Mareotis) wilfordi.
Liechti (1960). LocalityS.4918 (see p. 4), originallysurveyed
INTRODUCTION by the Geological Survey as Miri Formation (Pliocene) age,
was laterre-assessed as beingof?late middle Pleistocene age
(Wilford 1961). It is probable that locality S.5545 (=S.4965)
Mostofthe material formingthe basisofthe present descrip- isofsimilar age, containing as it does Charybdis, an in-shore
tionswascollected bythe Geological Survey Departmentsof genus with a modern aspect. The Pleistocene horizons were
Brunei, Sarawak and Sabah (formerly British Territories in deposited in valleys which were cut into older strata and
Borneo) during the 1950s, and sent to the British Museum later flooded. The Pleistocene horizons represent shallower
(Natural History) in 1958 and 1963-64. A small quantity of water than the Mio-Pliocene. Barnes (1968: 337) comments:
material was subsequently supplied by the Brunei Shell 'Macrophthalmusistodaylittoral,essentiallysub-tropicaland
Petroleum Company Ltd. The material is only of broad tropical frequently brackish or estuarine'; there is no reason
stratigraphical value because of its uniqueness in the fossil to supposethat the fossilsfrom Brunei came from adifferent
record. Reliance was placed on the published ages for the sort ofenvironment.
beds by foraminiferal and molluscan workers (Nuttall 1961, A few leucosiids were earlier collected by members ofthe
Haile & Wong 1965). Geological Survey of North Borneo from isolated areas in
A
general description of the geology of Sarawak, Brunei the north-east of Borneo; they are clearly from the older
and the western part of North Borneo was published by Miocene deposits but their stratigraphical control is poor.
NEOGENECRABSFROMBRUNEI,SABAHANDSARAWAK
Thegeological agesforthesespecimensaregiven in Collenette Thesesuggestedconditionsinvitecomparisonwiththecrab
(1954) and Haile & Wong (1965). fauna collected from the Gulf of Siam (Thailand) by the
All the material described in this paper is deposited Danish Expedition to Siam (1899-1900) and described by
in the British Museum (Natural History), Department of Rathbun, 1910. She (1910: 303) notesthepositionoftheGulf
Palaeontology: register numberprefix In. of Siam midway between the Indian Ocean and the West
Pacific Ocean, and goes on to comment on the high number
ofnewgeneraandspecies.Thissuggestedanareaparticularly
suited to speciation, a comment which might be equally true
THE FAUNA AND ITS PALAEOECOLOGY forthecrabsofthe PlioceneofBorneo. Shefurthernotedthe
abundance ofsmall forms, especially Goneplacidae (s.l.) and
Leucosiidae,whichalsoshowthesamedominancein Borneo.
The successive Mio-Pliocene crab faunas from north-west Initially Rathbun attributed this bias to 'the zeal of the
Borneo are unusual, in that they contain an abnormally high collector' but later came to realise that it was because the
proportion of leucosiids (species and specimens) compared collectionwastakenfromashelteredarmofthesea. Rathbun
with the average of the Indo-West Pacific faunas. Table 1 recorded 204 species (of which 55 are inshore/estuarine
comparesthefossilfaunaswithdataforthe Indo-WestPacific species) in her report, compared with the 36 fossil species
region as a whole (taken from Serene 1968: 2804 species in (2 inshore/estuarine) in the Borneo fauna here reported.
462 genera) at the present day, and for the nearest com- Some crab groups are clearly underrepresented in the
parable Recent fauna, that ofthe GulfofThailand (Rathbun Borneofauna,particularlytheXanthoideaandMajoidea,but
1910: 207 species in 104 genera). The Gulf ofThailand was in the Gulf of Siam these are either associated with a very
chosenbecause itmostcloselycompareswiththequietwaters inshore position or found in close association with algae that
ofBorneo and also hasahigherproportion ofleucosiidsthan appear to be absent in Borneo. Serene & Soh (1976),
the normal shelf. The Gulf of Thailand fauna was largely reportingon the Brachyuracollected duringtheThai-Danish
taken by dredge from between the coast and the off-shore Expedition (1966) from approximately the same area as
fringing islands, an area protected from the high energies of Rathbun'smaterial,commentedparticularlyonthesmallsize
the open shelf with depths ranging from shoreline to about ofthe specimens. The great majority did not exceed 10 mm.
50 m. The bottom is largely composed of sand and broken This is also true ofmany ofthe species from Borneo, so it is
shell. Leucosiids generally live in such areas in relatively not considered that the Borneo faunas contain a preponder-
shallow water. They are weak, sluggish back-burrowers, ance ofjuvenile forms.
lurking half-buried forpassingprey. It istherefore suggested The two genera Macrophthalmus and Charybdis from
that the Mio-Pliocene horizons of Borneo were deposited in the Pleistocene of Borneo are found in many sublittoral,
similar shallow (5-50 m), low-energy areas. The lithology of estuarine or brackish waters around the Indo-Pacific, the
the rock confirms that the bottom was of sand and broken predatory Charybdisbeingthe morefully marine.
shell, particularly suitedto the back-burrowingleucosiids. The environment during the Pliocene remained relatively
steady. One species (out of29) survivedfrom the LowerMiri
Table 1 Distribution, bypercentagesinfamilyofsuperfamily,of to the Seria and 10 species survived from the Lower Miri to
crabsfromtheRecentoftheIndo-WestPacific(n =2804speciesin the Upper Miri; one speciesthat appeared in the Upper Miri
4in6222gegneenrear;a;Sehreerneien)19a6n8)d,tthheeRNeecoegnetnoefotfheBoGurlnfeoof(nTh=ail36ansdpe(cnie=s scoulrlveicvteeddfirntoomtthheetoSeprmioastFoserrmiaetsioofnt.heNBoorcnreaobsPlihoacveene,betehne
204speciesin 107genera; Rathbun 1910).
Liang Formation.
Indo-WestPacific Borneo(Neogene) Thailand
Dromiacea 3.4 3.0 STRATIGRAPHY
Raninoidea 0.7 3.0 -
Dorippoidea 1.6 3.0 1.0
Calappidae 1.3 3.0 3.0 AccordingtoVan Bemmelen (1970), the geosyncline formed
Leucosiidae 10.0 65.0 16.0
Majoidea 27.7 3.0 16.0 on the base-levelledCretaceouswassinkingbytheendofthe
Portunoidea 7.8 9.0 10.0 Lower Tertiary, with subsidence continuing into the Upper
Xanthoidea 22.5 3.0 22.0 Tertiary. The basin wasbeingfilled byclasticsedimentsfrom
Hexapodidae 4.7 3.0 13.0 the central Borneo mountainous spine to the south and from
POicnynpootdhoeirdideaae 47..33 9-.0 56..00 surrounding land masses to the north (Sunda Continent).
Grapsoidea 11.7 3.0 10.0 Umbgrove (1933) called this late cycle geosyncline, in which
it lies between stable and mobile areas resulting in weak
folding, an ideogeosyncline. Haile (1969) described the for-
In addition, there are present in Borneo more commensal mations that make up what he called the North-west Borneo
species of crabs than would be expected, since many are soft- Geosyncline, goingon to describe itsorganization andevolu-
shelled and consequently easily damaged or destroyed before tionary history. He compared and contrasted it with
burial. Althoughthere is nodirectfossilevidence, annelidsand Aubouin's (1965) geosynclinal couple model. Bol & van
holothuriansprobablyalsothrived,whichwouldaccountforthe Hoorn (1980) believed thatthe parallel ridgeswere the result
presence ofa higher than average proportion ofspecies (and of mild compressional movements related to basement
specimens)ofcrabscommensalwiththese animals. Thetube- wrench faulting. These weak positive areas paralleling
like enrollment of the fossil commensal crabs suggests that the present north-western coastline of Borneo probably
sidewayswalkingwas alreadywell established. acted as barriers to strong wave action, thus having the
MORRIS&COLLINS
same effect as the fringingislands alongthe GulfofThailand Muara Road, 8 km north of Brunei Town, Brunei (?late
today. middle Pleistocene-Wilford 1961: 102).
The Miri and Seria Formations ofthe Belait Group under- S.4965. See S.5545.
lie about 647 km2 of Quaternary in Sarawak and Brunei. 5.5536. Clay ironstone nodules in road cutting Mile 24! on
Outcrops are mostly to be found in sea cliffs and road Tutong Road from Brunei Town, Brunei. Pliocene, Seria
cuttings. The Belait Group consists of alternations of clays, Formation.
sandy clays and sandstones. The main feature-forming beds 5.5537. Clay ironstone nodules in road cutting Mile 211 on
are the thick sandstone sequences, from which much of the Tutong Road from Brunei Town, Brunei. Pliocene, Seria
fossil crab fauna has come. The Miri Formation is 1954 m Formation.
thickatMiri anditcanbe lithologicallyand(basedonsmaller 5.5538. Mile 19! on Tutong Road to Brunei Town, Brunei.
benthonic foraminifera) palaeontologically divided into an Pliocene, UpperMiri Formation.
upper (1323 m) and a lower (631 m) sequence. The Upper 5.5539. Mile 17| on Tutong Road to Brunei Town, Brunei.
Miri isthe more arenaceous, with more rapidbutlessregular Pliocene, UpperMiri Formation.
alternations. The Seria Formation (up to 2000 m thick) is S.5544. Mile 13! on Tutong Road to Brunei Town, Brunei.
conformable with the underlying Miri Formation and is Pliocene, LowerMiri Formation.
structurally and lithologically similar. It can be separated S.5545 (= S.4965). Near Mile 13 on Tutong Road to Brunei
palaeontologically by the appearance of the foraminifer Town, Brunei. Late Middle Pleistocene?
Triloculina 18 (Wilford 1961: 73). The lowerbedsoftheSeria 5.5548. Mile 12! on Tutong Road to Brunei Town, Brunei.
Formation are arenaceous, givingwaytosandyandsiltyclays Pliocene, LowerMiri Formation.
in the higher beds. The Seria Formation was deposited in a 5.5549. Mile 12! on Tutong Road to Brunei Town, Brunei.
very shallow seaway, with even inshore lagoonal conditions; Pliocene, LowerMiri Formation.
it was certainly shallower than the preceding Miri Formation 5.5550. Mile 12 on Tutong Road to Brunei Town, Brunei.
sea. Pliocene, LowerMiri Formation.
Nearly 4000 m of sediment was deposited during the late S.10474. Sea cliffc. 1.5 km north-east ofthe mouth ofRiver
Miocene and Pliocene filling of the geosyncline. An unsub- Trusan, south-west of Miri, Tanjong Batu area, Sarawak.
stantiated estimate by Schuppli (1946: 4) suggeststhatduring Pliocene, Lower Miri Formation.
the Neogene ofnorth-west Borneo 50,000ft (c. 15,000 m) of S.10475. In sea cliffs. 0.8 km north-east of the mouth ofthe
sediment wasdeposited. Batang River, south-west of Miri, Sarawak. Pliocene,
The Liang Formation, which is up to 3000 ft (c. 920 m) LowerMiriFormationbuthigherinsuccessionthanlocality
thick, overlies the Seria Formation, andwasdepositedon an S.10474.
erosional surface. The Liang is predominantly a marine
transgressive series of poorly consolidated sands and clays,
changing upwards into similar, but lagoonal or deltaic, sedi-
ments. No fossil crabs have been collected from the Liang SYSTEMATIC PALAEONTOLOGY
Formation.
The top boundary of the Liang is an unconformable
erosional surfacewith the overlyingPleistocene terraces. The PODOTREMATA
Section Guinot, 1977
cause of this was structural, following uplift en bloc of the
coastal region of north-west Borneo. The denudation was Subsection ARCHAEOBRACHYURA Guinot, 1977
followed by the Jerudong Cycle, which produced a system of Superfamily RANINOIDEAde Haan, 1841
mature valleys in which are deposited the Jerudong Terrace
sands of ?late Middle Pleistocene age, estuarine or fluviatile FamilyRANINTOAEde Haan, 1841
in character. This deposit is never more than 10 m in GenusRANINOIDESH. Milne Edwards, 1837
thickness.
Type species. By monotypy Ranina laevis Latreille, 1825,
from the Recent (type locality unknown).
Range. Eocene to Recent.
LOCALITIES
Raninoidessp. Fig.39
J.771. Mile 3| on Labuk Road from Sandakan, Sabah. Material. Two fragmentary external moulds from locality
Undifferentiated Miocene Tes-f (?Lower Miocene) (Fitch S.5539. UpperMiri Formation: In 61915 (Fig. 39), In 61916.
1958). Description. Thefulllengthofneithercarapaceispreserved,
NB.130, NB.132. South-east part of Silimpopon region near but it probably equalled twice the maximum width which
Tawau, Sabah. Silimpopon horizon of Wenk (1938) which occursataboutmidlength;itismoderatelyroundedtoweakly
is aclay band lying between the Simengaris Formation and subcarinate in transverse section and longitudinally nearly
Kapilit Formation, ?LowerMiocene (Tes-f). flat. Gently convex posterolateral margins converge to a
NB.11541. Headwaters of Silabukan River, c. 14 km east of posterior margin somewhat narrower than the orbitofrontal
Silabukan, Sabah. Segama Group, Tungku Formation, margin, which occupies about three-quarters of the width.
Middle Miocene (upperTf). The very short anterolateral margins terminate at the basal
S.4807. Calcareous nodules in sea cliffs at Penanjong, 5 km scars of apparently rather small, obliquely-directed spines
north-eastofTutong, Brunei. Pliocene, Seria Formation. probably weaker than the flattened outer orbital spine.
S.4918. Base of marine alluvium in road cutting, Mile 3\ on Posterior to the lateral spine the lateral edges are