Marine ostracode provincialism in the late cretaceous of the tethyan realm and the Austral province

Abstract

A synthetic analysis based on previous and new data allows the recognition of four main palaeobiogeographic units (palaeobioprovinces) for the Late Cretaceous of the Tethyan Realm and Austral Province of the South Temperate Realm: South European, North-Central American, Afro-Arabian, and Austral Bioprovinces. Another unit, the Dinaro-Hellenic Subprovince is located between the South European and the Afro-Arabian bioprovinces. Special emphasis is given to the spatial and temporal distribution of ostracode assemblages (at the specific level) and selected “key genera” within several geographic zones, from the Tethys (North- Central America, southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East) to eastern Africa, India, South Africa, and Australia. Several factors are responsible for these palaeobiogeographic distributions (provincialism) and their evolution: the position and extension of continental margins, oceanic surface current patterns, paleobathymetry, eustatic sea-level changes, paleolatitudes, and their influence on paleoclimates. Other parameters are the biology, physiology, and ecology of the ostracodes. Therefore, ostracode provincialism has a high potential for further paleogeographic inferences, such as global tectonic reconstructions.