Abstract

Tertiary Ostracoda of the Atlantic Ocean south of the Tropic of Cancer are known from widely scattered clusters of localities on the continent and from a number of deep-sea cores. The latter have only been studied in detail for part of their fauna. Paleocene ostracodes have been studied in four areas: Central America (Guatemala and British Honduras), northern South America (Venezuela, Trinidad, Guiana) Argentina and West Africa. The distribution of some genera (e.g. Buntonia, Soudanella, Togoina) indicates similarities between faunas from widely different areas and suggests that during or shortly prior to the early Tertiary some shallow-water ostracodes made their way across the Atlantic either through shallow passages or attached to seaweed drifting with prevailing currents. Eocene ostracodes are known from West Africa and Trinidad, but from very different environments, which makes comparison hazardous. Oligocene ostracodes have only been reported from the Caribbean and from some deep-sea cores. Miocene ones have been described from West Africa (Gabon), the Caribbean, northern South America and Argentina (including southern Brazil). Here the presence of morphologically similar groups (Soudanella) in West Africa and southern South America and the report of the Munseyella? punctata group from southern Brazil and northern South America suggest connections or parallel faunal developments which will have to be investigated in more detail. The West African fauna bears a strong similarity to the Mediterranean one. For the Pliocene-Holocene, ostracodes are known from the same areas as in the Miocene and the distribution of the austral form Patagonocythere as well as the possible provinciality of such forms as Cyprideis, Perissocytheridea, Sulcostocythere and the distribution of Callistocythere and Neomonoceratina appear to be of great potential interest.

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