Abstract
The New Zealand continental shelf has a rich bryozoan fauna, and Bryozoa are relatively common as fossils in local marine-deposited strata. We record 103 species of Bryozoa occurring in the Wanganui Basin sequence spanning the Plio-Pleistocene (3.0–0.3 Ma), 77 of which belong to the order Cheilostomata and the remainder to the order Cyclostomata. The majority are conspecifics of the modern New Zealand shelf fauna. Palaeoecological characteristics of Wanganui Basin bryozoan faunas including diversity, taxonomic and colony growth-form combinations are identified, defining three biofacies groupings corresponding to depositional sequences (systems tracts). Water depth, sedimentation, substratum characters and taphonomic processes have all influenced the distribution and preservation of bryozoans in the local fossil record. Broader stratigraphic variations in Wanganui Basin faunas are explained by ‘habitat tracking’: a lateral shifting of bryozoan palaeocommunity zones in response to changing environments related to Plio-Pleistocene glacio-eustatic sea-level fluctuations.
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