Oligocene(23.03-33.9 Ma), early Oligocene 28.4-33.9 Ma

Roman occupancy along the Rupelriver mainly based itself on clay- and brickproduction, till these days some quarries still dig for clay in Rumst, Kruibeke, etc.  The fossils found in the clay are of Rupelian age, though on top of the clay eroded fossils from Pleistocene , Pliocene and Miocene age can be found.

Clayworkers in the beginning of the 20th century had to mold the clay with their hands and often complained about the still sharp sharkteeth cutting their hands.

Species(Incomplete list with some representative finds)

Invertebrates

Marine plankton

Arthropoda

Brachyura

Coeloma rupeliensis

Ichnofossil

Insecta

Echinodermata

Spines

Mollusca

Gastropoda

Ficus concinnus (Beyrich, 1856)

Drepanocheilus speciosa (von Schlotheim, 1820)

Eotyphis scalaris (Braun, 1850)

Galeodea depressa

Alvania cf. rupeliensis Tembrock, 1969

Unknown1

Unknown2

Unknown3

Unknown4

Turricala regularis (De Koninck, 1837)

Clio blinkae A.W. Janssen, 1989

Bivalvia

Patinopecten rupeliensis (Koenen, 1868)  

Cyclocardia kickxi (Nyst & Westendorp, 1839)

Corbula (Varicobula) g. gibba (ol iVi, 1792)

Nucula duchasteli Nyst, 1835

Nuculana deshayesiana (Nyst, 1835)

Thyasira obtusa (Beyrich, 1848) ?

Lophophorata

Brachiopoda

Bryozoa

Pisces

Unknown vertebrae

Fishspine

Fishteeth

Elasmobranchii

Isurus flandricus (Leriche,1910)

Carcharias acutissima (Agassiz, 1843)

Araloselachus cuspidata (Agassiz, 1843)

Cethorinus parvus (Leriche, 1908)

Physogaleus latus (Storms, 1894)

Lamna rupeliensis (Le Hon, 1871)

Squalus alsaticus (Andreae, 1892)

Woellsteinia oligocaena Reinecke, Stapf & Raisch, 2001

Lethenia vandenbroecki (Winkler, 1880)

Alopias exigua (Probst, 1879)

Plants

Fossilised wood

Mammalia

Aves

Patterns on the Oligocene seafloor

Minerals