Viennella baluki sp. nov. (Gastropoda: Turritellidae) from the Serravallian (Miocene) shallow-water seagrass paleoenvironments of the Vienna Basin (Central Paratethys)

Abstract

In this study, the Middle Miocene turritellid gastropod Viennella baluki sp. nov. is described as new to science. The new species was found in the Upper Badenian (Lower Serravallian) sandy and sandy-clayey, shallow-water, marine sediments of the Sandberg Member, belonging to the Studienka Formation, exposed at the Konopiská site, southwest of the village of Rohožník, Slovakia. The site is situated at the eastern periphery of the Vienna Basin and was on the western margin of the Central Paratethys Sea during the Miocene. The new species is compared with other Viennella species that occurred in the Badenian Central Paratathys. Paleoenvironmental conditions of V. baluki sp. nov. are discussed and compared to the habitats of other Viennella species.