A species of crab, Costacopluma bijida, was described from a borehole core of the Guasare Formation (Palaeocene) from Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. This discovery extends the known geographic, but not stratigraphic, range of the genus Costacopluma. Morphological details of C. bijida reveal a closer affinity between Costacopluma and Archaeopus than previously realized, which possibly strengthens the assignment of both genera to the same family (Retroplumidae). The interpreted depositional environment of the new specimen is shallow marine, the same as for other occurrences of Costacopluma described in the literature, suggesting that the genus as a whole preferred the shallow marine environment.
Bull. Mizunami Fossil Mus., no. 21 (1994), p. 29-34
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