Ranzania tenneyorum (Weems, 1985) and Mola pileata (Van Beneden, 1881) (Molidae, Tetraodontiformes): highly specialised fishes from the Breda and Oosterhout formations at Mill-Langenboom, the Netherlands

Abstract

Research into faunal assemblages from the Upper Miocene and Lower Pliocene at Mill-Langenboom, province of Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands, has led to the recognition of premaxillary and dentary beaks of molid fishes (Molidae, Tetraodontiformes). These ex-situ finds, originating either from the Breda Formation or Oosterhout Formation, or both, are here assigned to two extinct taxa, namely, Ranzania tenneyorum and Mola pileata. Mola pileata has previously been recorded from the Middle Miocene of Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United States of America, while R. tenneyorum was up to now known only from the Lower-Middle Miocene Calvert Formation in Virginia (US). The present record thus extends the known geographical and stratigraphical ranges of R. tenneyorum to north-west Europe and the Middle-Miocene – Lower Pliocene.