ABSTRACT

The H. V. Howe stratigraphic collection of ostracods at Louisiana State University consists of more than 2000 slides from samples processed from Mesozoic and Tertiary localities throughout the Gulf Coast. The sorted Vicksburgian (Oligocene) material comprises approximately 14,000 specimens mounted on 34 prepared slides, each representing a specific stratigraphic unit. All of the classic Vicksburgian localities in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and northwestern Florida are represented.

Vicksburgian sediments yield abundant and diverse ostracod faunas. Seven species of ostracods representing seven genera are common to abundant in all of the marine members of the Vicksburg Group in the central Gulf Coast. Nine additional species representing eight genera are common in all marine members except for their absence in one of the stratigraphic units. Diagnostic ostracod species provide an easy and reliable method for recognizing Vicksburgian sediments in the central Gulf Coast.