Sediments of the Westerschelde Estuary are renowned for their abundance of mammalian fossils. The staggering numbers of fossils, however, contrast sharply with the lack of knowledge of the fossil faunas and of their stratigraphic context. In order to increase data on Westerschelde fossils, the sites and their stratigraphy, the Natural History Museum of Rotterdam organised three fishing trips in 2014. Various localities were prospected and 5461 mammal fossils with an estimated weight of over 15 metric tons were collected. The majority of the fossils (5308) belong to marine mammals (mostly Mysticeti, few Odontoceti, one Pinnipedia); just 153 fossils represent terrestrial mammals. The fossils of marine mammals originate from the Breda Formation (Langhian - Zanclean) and/or the Oosterhout Formation (Zanclean - Piacenzian), while all terrestrial mammal fossils are remains from the Late Pleistocene Weichselian mammoth steppe fauna. One hitherto unknown but promising site was discovered, yielding lumps of glauconitic sandstone matrix that contain well-preserved (parts of) skeletons of marine mammals.

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Deinsea

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Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam

K. Post, & J.W.F. Reumer. (2016). History and future of paleontological surveys in the Westerschelde Estuary (Province of Zeeland, the Netherlands). Deinsea, 16, 1–9.