B. M. Landau & L. T. Groves 
Novapex 12(1-2): 1-38, 10 mars 2011 
Cypraeidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from the early Miocene 
Cantaure Formation of northem Venezuela 
Bernard M. LANDAU 
Centre de Geologia da Universidade de Lisboa. Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal and 
International Health Centres, Av. Infante de Henrique 7, Areias Sào Joâo, P-8200 Albufeira, Portugal. 
bernielandau@sapo.pt 
Corresponding author 
Lindsey T. GROVES 
Natural History Muséum of Los Angeles County, Malacology Department, 900 Exposition Boulevard, 
Los Angeles, California, 90007, USA. 
lgroves@nhm.org 
KEYWORDS. Cypraeidae, Mollusca, Miocene, Cantaure Formation, Venezuela, new species. 
ABSTRACT. This is the first account of the rich assemblage of Cypraeidae from the late early 
Miocene, Burdigalian Cantaure Formation, Paraguanâ Peninsula, Falcôn Province, Venezuela. 
Twelve species are recorded from these deposits, ten of which are new to science: Luria 
cantaurana n. sp., L. isabellaprimitiva n. sp., Trôna ingrami n. sp., Propustularia longidentata n. 
sp., P. paraguanensis n. sp., Zonaria pingata n. sp., Z. pseudotumulus n. sp., Pseudozonaria 
pr 'aeaequinoctialis n. sp., P. primarobertsi n. sp. and P. falconensis n. sp. Comparative taxon 
Muracypraea "henekeni ot Groves (1997) from the middle to late Miocene Gatun Formation ot 
Panama and Angostura Formation of Ecuador is herein described as M woodringi n. sp. Cypraea 
fossula (Ingram, 1947) is considered a junior subjective synonym of Trôna trinitatensis 
(Mansfîeld, 1925). The type material of Jousseaumea joossi Schilder, 1939 and Pustularia 
mejasensis Schilder, 1939 are in very poor condition and do not adequately show species 
characteristics, and are therefore considered nomma dubia. 
INTRODUCTION 
A rich and varied cypraeid fauna is here reported from 
the early Miocene (Burdigalian) Cantaure Formation 
as defined by Hunter and Bartok (1974), Paraguanâ 
Peninsula, Falcôn State, Venezuela. Schilder (1939) 
first documented the family Cypraeidae from these 
deposits with the report of Luria (Basilitrona) 
patrespatriae (Maury, 1917) and Ingram (1947) 
described Cypraea fossula from the sarne formation. 
However, no further cypraeid taxonomie work on the 
Cantaure Formation has been attempted. Jung’s 
(1965) landmark systematic monograph on the 
assemblage described and illustrated a specimen 
identified as Cypraea aff. isabella Linnaeus, but made 
no further mention of additional cypraeids in the 
formation. Herein, these omissions are addressed. 
Gibson-Smith & Gibson-Smith (1979) described 
the presence of ‘upper’ and ‘Iower’ beds in the 
Cantaure Formation. The basal unit is defined by a 
breccia composed of Balanus barnacle fragments and 
blocks of granité overlain by silty and gypsiferous 
shales with sandy levels (Hunter & Bartok, 1974). 
They also note rich molluscan levels within the Iower 
unit. The upper level is sandier, and the transition 
between the two units is unclear. Dr. Ernily Vokes, 
who has also visited the deposits, did not recognize 
the presence of an ‘upper’ and ‘Iower’ bed (personal 
communication, BL). The gastropod assemblage 
found in the ‘upper’ and ‘Iower’ beds is similar, with a 
prédominance of filter-feeding turritellids in the 
‘upper’ beds and a greater number of rocky-bottom 
dwellers in the ‘Iower’ bed. Cypraeids are not 
common in the Cantaure Formation, but are found far 
more often in the ‘Iower’ beds, which are designated 
as the type locality for the new species. 
Material and Methods 
The material described here is from the Gibson-Smith 
collection housed in the Naturhistorisches Muséum 
Basel (NMB coll.), Switzerland and the Bernard 
Landau collection (BL coll.), now deposited in the 
Naturhistorisches Muséum Wien (NHMW coll), 
Vienna, Austria. Some specimens are deposited in the 
Natural Histoiy Muséum of Los Angeles County, 
Invertebrate Palaeontology Department (LACMIP 
coll.). Ail shells were also examined under UV light 
as described by Olsson & Petit (1968). 
Abbreviations 
Abbreviations used for institutional catalogue and/or 
locality numbers are as follows: ANSP, Academy of 
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, USA; BL, 
Collection of Bernard Landau (Collection now at 
