Middle Miocene (Badenian) chitons (Mollusca, Polyplacophora) from the Central Paratethys 4: Letkés (Börzsöny Mts, Hungary)

Letkés village at the western edge of the Börzsöny Mts has long been a well-known Middle Miocene fossil site. It has a particularly rich Mollusca fauna, but no Polyplacophora remains have ever been published from there. Only 65 chiton valves have so far been recovered from the screen-washed residue, but the diversity is nevertheless surprisingly high: 8 species of 7 genera have been identied. e three most abundant taxa are Acanthochitona, Cryptoplax, and Rhyssoplax, which together account for 87% of the specimens. e genera Lepidopleurus, Parachiton, Ischnochiton, and Craspedochiton are accessorial members of the Polyplacophora assemblage. At the species level, Parachiton aicanus (Nierstrasz) and Acanthochitona lacrimulifera Bałuk are noteworthy, found only in the recently processed materials from Várpalota and Devecser in Hungary, but their occurrence in Letkés indicates that they may have been present in small numbers over a larger area in the Central Paratethys. e most outstanding and important nd is Craspedochiton schafferi (Šulc), represented by a single tail valve only. is species was found for the rst time in Hungary and is the rst known record of this species since its original description in 1934. With 29 gures.