Holoplanktonic gastropoda (Mollusca) from the Miocene of Cyprus: systematics and biostratigraphy |
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Authors: | ARIE W JANSSEN CRISPIN T S LITTLE |
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Institution: | 1. National Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands;2. e‐mail ariewjanssen@waldonet.net.mt;3. Present address 12 Triq tal’Hamrija, Xewkija XWK 9033, Gozo, Malta;4. School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK;5. e‐mail c.little@see.leeds.ac.uk |
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Abstract: | Abstract: Eleven randomly chosen outcrops in the Miocene Pakhna Formation of Cyprus were sampled for holoplanktonic Mollusca. Four species of Heteropoda were found, and 24 of Pteropoda, a substantial increase from the two species recorded until now from the Miocene of Cyprus. One pteropod species, Peracle charlotteae sp. nov. (Gastropoda, Pseudothecosomata), is introduced. Age assignments based on holoplanktonic molluscs for the 11 localities are as follows: Langhian (Alassa 1–4), (Serravallian?) Tortonian to Messinian (Episkopi 1), Tortonian (Agios Tychon, Tokhni and the Maroni Marlstone of Khirokitia 1–2) and Tortonian to Early Messinian (Episkopi 2). These age determinations in some cases are at odds with those from previous publications based on calcareous nannofossils and Foraminifera. The sediments underlying the Amathus Channel outcrop yielded insufficient fauna for definitive dating, but we suggest are younger than Late Serravallian. At some localities, particularly in the Alassa area, pteropod assemblages are strongly variable on a bed‐by‐bed basis, and this offers possibilities for future refined biostratigraphical interpretations. This is the first substantial holoplanktonic mollusc fauna described from the eastern Mediterranean basin and allows correlation with assemblages in the central Mediterranean and elsewhere. |
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Keywords: | Cyprus Miocene holoplanktonic Mollusca systematics new species biostratigraphy |
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