Ceriale (Liguria region, Savona province), outcrop in streambed of Rio Torsero. Pliocene, Piacenzian, grey clays, collected by A. W. Janssen, July 1988. Pteropods of this locality indicate Pteropod Zone 22 (JANSSEN 2012). The very diverse mollusc fauna was described by ANDRI et al. (2005), while some brachiopods were mentioned by SACCO (1902). Aphelesia bipartita (Brocchi, 1814), 1 complete specimen, 1 brachial valve, RGM.1309893; 1 complete specimen (Figs 10–12), RGM.1309894; 1 pedicle valve (Fig. 13), RGM.1309895 Aphelesia bipartita (Brocchi, 1814) (Figs 10–13) 1944 Hemithiris bipartita (Brocchi) – MEZNERICS, p. 22, Pl. 5, Figs 12, 16. 1944 Hemithiris acuta n. sp. – MEZNERICS, pp. 22–23, Pl. 3, Figs 7–10. 1985a Aphelesia bipartita (Brocchi) – GAETANI & SACCÀ, p. 5, Text-Fig. 2, Pl. 7, Figs 1–4 (cum. syn.). 1985b Aphelesia bipartita (Brocchi) – GAETANI & SACCÀ, pp. 363–365, Text-Figs 2–3, Pl. 17, Figs 1–3, Pl. 19, Figs 1–3. 2001 Aphelesia bipartita (Brocchi) – BORGHI, pp. 49–50, Pl. 2, Figs 1–5. 2001 Aphelesia bipartita (Brocchi) – BITNER & MARTINELL, pp. 179–181, Figs 3 A-H. 2003 Aphelesia bipartita (Brocchi) – BITNER & MOISSETTE, p. 466, Figs 2 A-M. 2005 Aphelesia bipartita (Brocchi) – GARCÍA RAMOS, pp. 28–29, Pl. 1, Figs 9, 11, Pl. 2, Figs 5, 7. Material – Ceriale (2 complete specimens, 1 pedicle and 1 brachial valve). Remarks – The few studied specimens from Ceriale are easily recognizable as A. bipartita. This species was described in detail by COOPER (1959), GAETANI & SACCÀ (1985a, b), BITNER & MARTINELL (2001) and BITNER & MOISSETTE (2003). It is a very significant component of the Terebratula - Aphelesia Bed in Malta (PEDLEY 1976; DULAI et al. in prep.). Aphelesia is the most common rhynchonellid brachiopod in the European Neogene. It is especially widespread and most diverse in the Mediterranean where three species were recognised in Italy (A. bipartita, A. margineplicata, A. pseudobipartita; GAETANI & SACCÀ 1985b). Some papers mentioned A. plicatodentata from the Mediterranean Neogene (e. g. CALZADA 1978; GARCÍA RAMOS 2004), but it is a junior synonym of A. margineplicata (see GAETANI & SACCÀ 1985b). PAJAUD (1976) described a new genus and new species from the Pliocene of Spain (Phapsirhynchia sanctapaulensis). However, later Phapsirhynchia was synonymized with Aphelesia (LLOMPART & CALZADA 1982; GAETANI & SACCÁ 1985b). GARCÍA RAMOS (2005) went even further and synonymized A. sanctapaulensis with A. bipartita. An additional new form in the Mediterranean is under description from Malta (DULAI et al. in prep.). A. bipartita was also recognised in the Miocene of the Central Paratethys (MEZNERICS 1944; BITNER & DULAI 2004). A. acuta described by MEZNERICS (1944) from the Middle Miocene (Karpatian) of Hungary is most probably a junior synonym of A. bipartita. A separated species (A. winebergeri) was recently erected from the Upper Burdigalian of the Upper Marine Molasse of Southern Germany by BITNER & SCHNEIDER (2009).

Published as part of Dulai, Alfréd, 2016, Sporadic Pliocene and Pleistocene brachiopods in Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Leiden, the Netherlands): Records from the Mediterranean, and the North Sea Basin, pp. 65-98 in Fragmenta Palaeontologica Hungarica 33 on pages 69-80, DOI: 10.17111/FragmPalHung.2016.33.65, http://zenodo.org/record/18611743