Miocene benthic foraminifera from Nosy Makamby and Amparafaka, Mahajanga Basin, northwestern Madagascar

Madagascar is well known for its fossil deposits and hosts one of the world's most important Upper Cretaceous terrestrial faunal sites (in the Mahajanga and Morondava Basins in the west and northwest of the island). Cenozoic marine fossils are also described from Madagascar, but these have received far less attention from the paleontological community, with most of this work dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Our study reports a new comprehensive microfossil assemblage from a Miocene sequence on the island of Nosy Makamby. After washing, sieving and sorting (∼30 kg), twenty-five genera of foraminifera were identified including Alveolina, Ammodiscus, Ammonia, Archaias, Bolivina, Borelis, Cassidulina, Cyclammina, Cycloforina, Dentalina, Elphidium, Hauerina, Lagena, Lepidocyclina, Nodosaria, Nonion, Nonionella, Peneroplis, Pyrgo, Quinqueloculina, Rhabdammina, Spirillina, Spirolina, Spiroloculina and Triloculina. Ostracods are found in association with the foraminifera, as well as many other macroinvertebrate fossils (including bivalves, gastropods, and echinoids) in addition to vertebrate fossils. Together, the assemblage indicates that during the late Miocene, Nosy Makamby was a tropical, near-shore environment, probably similar to that seen today. Furthermore, the existence of epiphytic foraminiferans (e.g., Elphidium) suggests that sea-grass beds were likely present.