Palinurellus bericus n. sp. (Crustacea, Decapoda, Palinuridae) from the late Eocene (Priabonian) of San Feliciano (Orgiano, Vicenza, northeastern Italy)

The rich decapod community from the late Eocene (Priabonian) of San Feliciano (Orgiano, Vicenza, northeastern Italy) was partially described by De Angeli & Garassino (2002). Anomurans and brachyurans are the main component of this community, whereas the macrurans are very scarce. The studied specimen is the first report of macrurans from this locality after twenty years of field research. Similar carapace morphological characters allow the studied specimen to be assigned to the extant Palinurellus von Martens, 1878, and differences with the two species of Palinurellus allow erection of a new species P. bericus n. sp. The report of Palinurellus in the fossil record is significant because it expands the stratigraphic range of this genus back to the late Eocene. It also represents the second report of the Palinuridae from the Eocene of Vicenza.