Members of the Nannoworks Laboratory (Dr. Allan Gil Fernando, David Policarpio and John Paul Mondala), along with visiting paleontologist Dr. Tomoki Kase of the National Museum of Nature and Science (Tsukuba, Japan), conducted fieldwork on several fossil mollusc-bearing units across various localities in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and La Union (April 21-27, 2024), Masungi Georeserve (May 2-3, 2024) and Bulacan (May 7, 2024). In Ilocos Sur, the team visited the type section of the fossil-rich Pliocene Lao-ingen Formation, which is Mr. Policarpio’s study area for his MS Thesis. During the fieldwork, the team collected and looked for additional mollusc fossil specimens, in preparation for the paper to be published regarding new species of gastropods. Excitingly, the team did not only collect possible additional new species but found shark teeth as well. In La Union, the team went to several fossil localities, including sections of the Cataguintingan Formation and the uplifted marine terrace in Damortis, Santo Tomas. The mollusc assemblage of the uplifted marine terrace was the undergraduate thesis area of Mr. Mondala. At NIGS, the fossil specimens were cleaned, photographed and subjected to the UV light method for taxonomic classification.
After the Ilocos fieldwork, the team moved to the Masungi Georeserve in Baras, Rizal. The purpose of the field was to verify an earlier report on fossil gastropods in the Masungi Limestone that are believed to be the “first and oldest” fossil record of its kind in the country. At this leg of the fieldwork series, the team was joined by Joaquin Lacson and another molluscan paleontologist, Dr. Yolanda Aguilar. Numerous Nummulites-bearing limestones were also noted along the trail, confirming the Eocene age of the limestone. At specific localities along the trail, gastropod and bivalve fossils were observed and sampled for laboratory analyses. The samples are now at NIGS for preparation and taxonomic analysis. The interesting finds inside the Masungi Georeserve are testament to the wealth of information paleontologists and geologists can get from this natural laboratory which is just a few hours away from Metro Manila.
Members of the Nannoworks Laboratory during their fieldwork. 1) (Upper left) Dr. Tomoki Kase, JP Mondala, and David Policarpio. 2) (Upper right) Members of the Nannoworks Laboratory (Dr. Allan Gil Fernando, JP Mondala, David Policarpio, Joaquin Lacson), Dr. Tomoki Kase and Dr. Yolanda Aguilar. 3) (Lower left) Members of the team at Masungi. 4) (Lower right) Mollusc fossils
The last leg of the fieldwork series is at the Tartaro Formation in San Miguel, Bulacan. The team was joined by Dominique Mediodia, faculty of UP Visayas and PhD student at the National Taiwan Normal University, John Phillip Baguio, Antero II Borja, and Jester Cleope. The objective of the fieldwork is to collect a complete specimen of a mollusc to be described as a new species (which the team was able to do) and collect sediment samples for otoliths (fish ear bones) and shark teeth analysis. Tartaro Formation has been Dr. Kase’s study area for almost two decades already. He described a new genus (Bulacanites) after the province of Bulacan for a mollusc that was collected from the formation. Tartaro Formation remains to be an exciting area, with more fossil finds every time a fieldwork is to be conducted in the area. As part of his PhD Dissertation, Mr. Mediodia will look into the otolith assemblage and describe the fish diversity in the area during the Pliocene. The discovery that the sediments contain shark teeth also presents opportunities for undergraduate students of the Nannoworks Laboratory to investigate the elasmobranch assemblage in Tartaro Formation as part of their undergraduate theses.
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