Fossil Ostracoda and Foraminifera from the locality of the “Paleoparadoxiid Mizunami-Kamado specimen” of the Miocene Shukunohora Formation, Mizunami Group, Mizunami City, central Japan

Abstract

Twenty-seven species of fossil Ostracoda, 17 species of planktonic Foraminifera, and 18 species of benthic Foraminifera were found in sandstones around the paleoparadoxiid-bearing horizon of the Miocene Shukunohora Formation, Mizunami Group, central Japan. Based on the results of the microfossil analysis, the depositional age was assigned to the lower part of planktonic foraminiferal zone N8 (~17.0–16.0 Ma) during the Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum. The paleoenvironment is thought to have been sandy sea bottoms in upper sublittoral zone (~20–50 m) near seaweed or seagrass beds under the influence of strong warm currents.