New Paleogene and Neogene decapod crustaceans (Axiidea, Brachyura) from Venezuela

摘要

New species and occurrences of decapod crustaceans from the Eocene through Miocene of Venezuela increase the Paleogene and Neogene diversity for the region. New species include Collodes cumarebensis (Inachoididae), Agolambrus rathbunae (Parthenopidae), Xanthodius falconensis (Xanthidae) and one new combination, Mesorhoea venezuelensis (Van Straelen, 1933) (Parthenopidae). A new occurrence of the ghost shrimp species Turbiocheir minutospinata Schweitzer et al., 2012 (Anacalliacidae), known previously from the Paleogene of Argentina and Chile, expands the geographic range of this taxon considerably. The similarity of the Venezuelan fossil species to extant taxa suggests that the extant decapod fauna was well-established by the Miocene and had begun to appear by the Eocene.