Diversity and Distribution of Micromolluscs (Gastropoda and Bivalvia) from the marine Quaternary of Argentina (SW Atlantic): palaeoenvironmental, palaeoclimate, palaeoceanographical implications

AGUIRRE M; RICHIANO S; FARINATI E; DAVIES, K; FARINATI, E; AGUIRRE, M., RICHIANO, S., CASTELLANOS, I., DAVIES, K., MEDINA., R.

PALAEONTOGRAPHICA

E SCHWEIZERBARTSCHE VERLAGS

Lugar: Stuttgart; Año: 2016

0375-0442

The aim of this paper is to make the diversity and distribution of micromolluscs from the marine Quaternary of Argentina known and to assess whether any of them could be employed as reliable paleoenvironmental markers. We present a comprehensive list with illustrations of the most characteristic micromolluscan taxa so far identified, including reappraisals of their morphological variability range, based on a compilation of large and disperse bibliographic sources, examination of materials field-own-collected from the marine Quaternary between the Río de La Plata margin (Bonaerensian littoral) and southern Santa Cruz province (Patagonia), as well as from museum collections, research institutions and oceanographical expeditions performed/carried our along the Mar Argentino. It is widely known that synonymies play an important role in biodiversity studies (eg., Benton, 2008), thus an essential task to complement the record of molluscan biodiversity in space and time for the marine Quaternary of Argentina and to supply evidence for the role of micromolluscs in fossil biodiversity, a topic of growing interest worldwide (Cooper et al., 2006; Cherns & Wright, 2011).