Tallahatta Formation Fossil

Tallahatta Formation
Age (Ma)
Start:	47.8
End:	41.3
System/Period:	Paleogene
Series/Epoch:	Eocene
Stage/Age:	Lutetian
Location
Location:	Mississippi
Country:	United States
Coordinates:	34.9°N, 89.3°W
Paleocoordinates:	36.2°N, 77.6°W
Diversity
Genera:	1

Bolden clay pit, northeast of Holly Springs, Mississippi, United States.

• 5 cm thick siltstone layer. Middle Eocene, Claibornian. Near the top of the Tallahatta Formation, just below the contact with the overlying Koscuisko Formation.

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: pond; lithified siltstone

• The stratigraphic sequence at this locality corresponds to the sedimentology and typical sequence of an abandoned stream meander that has formed an oxbow lake and subsequently filled with clay, silt, and organic matter.

Species known from Tallahatta Formation

A single undescribed species of Oecophylla is the only fossil ant currently known from this formation.

Location of Formation

[{"name":34.9,"title":null,"lat":34.9,"lon":-89.3,"otherValues":[]}] +− © OpenStreetMap contributors

References

• Johnston, J.E. 1993. Insects, spiders, and plants from the Tallahatta Formation (Middle Eocene) in Benton County, Mississippi. Mississippi Geology 14: 71–82.
• Perfilieva, K.S. 2021. Distribution and differentiation of fossil Oecophylla (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) species by wing imprints. Paleontological Journal 55(1), 76–89 (doi:10.1134/s003103012101010x).