The brachiopod Lingula in the Middle Miocene of the Central Paratethys

In the Middle Miocene deposits of the Central Paratethys, lingulides, because of their low taphonomic potential, are very rare and difficult to identify. Two species of Lingula, L. dumortieri Nyst, 1843 and L. dregeri Andreae, 1893, have been recorded from the Badenian (Middle Miocene) of Poland. Re−examination of the specimens has shown that none of them can be referred to Lingula dumortieri (now Glottidia dumortieri). The rounded outline of the scar of the posterior adductor muscle and the lack of the septa indicate that all the specimens must be referred to the genus Lingula. Their valves appear to be slightly more convex than in other species of Lingula and closely resemble the Recent L. tumidula Reeve, 1841. We assign all the specimens of Lingula found in the Miocene of Poland to L. dregeri. Because our specimens are juveniles and some are broken we cannot adequately redescribe this species. Lingula dregeri was distributed in the Middle Miocene of the Central Paratethys (Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Romania), while Glottidia dumortieri occurs in the Pliocene of Northern Europe (Atlantic Province).