Mio\u2013Pleistocene Ostracoda from the Zhada Basin (western Tibetan Plateau)

Abstract

We present a list of Ostracoda (Crustacea) from stratigraphic sections of Mio–Pleistocene lacustrine deposits from Zhada Basin, western Tibetan Plateau. In this area, almost no taxonomical studies were carried out so far, and, aiming to a future use of ostracods as palaeoenvironmental proxy for this sector of the Tibetan Plateau, a documentation of several species was performed. The taxa Leucocytherella sinensis Huang, 1982, ?Leucocythere dorsotuberosa Huang, 1982, Leucocythere postilirata Pang, 1985, Ilyocypris spp., Eucypris cf. zandaensis Yang, 1982, ?Prionocypris sp., Paraeucypris sp. and Leucocytherella dangeloi sp. nov. were found and classified. The taxon Ilyocypris spp. probably represents three different species; other taxa in open nomenclature are Paraeucypris sp., Eucypris cf. zandaensis and ?Prionocypris sp. The reported taxa from the Zhada Basin are mainly lacustrine species, and their diversity is comparable to those of other Neogene and Quaternary basins located on the Tibetan Plateau.