A Late Oligocene brachiopod fauna from the rocky shore deposit at Cosy Dell farm, Southland, New Zealand

Abstract

A Late Oligocene rocky shore fauna from Cosy Dell farm, Southland, is shown to include six brachiopod genera and species and, for the first time, records the co-existence of a discinid, a craniid and a kraussinid in such a paleoecological setting in New Zealand. This study includes the first reported occurrence of Discradisca in New Zealand and extends the stratigraphic range of species Megerlina miracula Hiller, MacKinnon & Nielsen, 2008 back to the late Oligocene. In addition, this study confirms the occurrence of M. miracula in very shallow-water deposits.