Miocene Scutellina (Echinoidea) from the northern part of the Western Desert, Egypt

Six Scutella, one Parascutella and three Amphiope species are recorded from four Miocene (Burdigalian and Langhian-Serravallian) sections: Gebel West El Migahhiz, Gebel El Takrur (Siwa Oasis), Wadi Um El Ashtan (Mersa Matruh) and Wadi Aqrab (El Salum), all in the northern part of the Western Desert of Egypt. These species are Scutella aegyptiaca Ali, S. ammonis Fuchs, S. checchiae Desio, S. conica Ali, S. robecchibricchettii Desio, S. rostrata Fuchs, Parascutella stefaninii (Desio), Amphiope miocenica Ali, A. arcuata Fuchs, and A. fuchsi Fourtau. Considering Durham’s diagnosis of the genus Scutella: ‘periproct located midway between the peristome and the posterior margin of the test’, all the species described from the Central Paratethys (Vienna Basin, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Austria and Ukraine) and referred to Scutella by earlier authors appear to be congeneric with either Parascutella (periproct submarginal). This means that no occurrences of the genus Scutella in the Central Paratethys during Miocene times are known to date.