Faunal Relationships Research Articles

Middle Pleistocene to Holocene mammal faunas of the Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan: An updated review incorporating results of recent research

This paper presents an updated review on Middle Pleistocene to Holocene land mammal fossil localities and their faunas in the main part of the Ryukyu Islands (Central and Southern Ryukyus) and in Taiwan. We reconstruct the successions of land mammal faunas from the Middle Pleistocene to Holocene mainly on Okinawa Island in the Central Ryukyus, and on Miyako and Ishigaki Islands in the Southern Ryukyus, as well as in Taiwan. We also discuss the faunal relationships among the three islands and Taiwan, and paleogeographic inferences based on the results. The fauna on Okinawa Island has been of an insular type, and has shown a high degree of endemism since the Middle Pleistocene. With the exception of the wild boar (Sus scrofa), no mammals have immigrated onto the island since the Middle Pleistocene, indicating that the island has been isolated from other regions by the sea since at least the Middle Pleistocene. The appearance of the wild boar in the later part of the Late Pleistocene is suggestive of human introduction. On Miyako Island, the presence of the steppe mammoth (Mammuthus trogontherii) in the Middle Pleistocene indicates that this species immigrated from Taiwan across a temporary land bridge formed between the island and Taiwan (probably via Ishigaki Island) during a cold stage of the late Middle Pleistocene. It is probable that this land bridge did not reach Okinawa Island. The Late Pleistocene faunas of Miyako and Ishigaki Islands are also of an insular type, and non-flying forms of the two faunas are markedly different from one another, and are also different from their counterparts on Okinawa Island. These observations indicate that Miyako and Ishigaki Islands were separated from one another and from Okinawa Island in the Late Pleistocene. The Holocene faunas of Miyako and Ishigaki Islands also indicate isolated conditions. As on Okinawa Island, it is suggested that humans introduced the wild boar, probably in the later part of the Late Pleistocene. The Middle Pleistocene to Holocene mammal faunas of Taiwan are of a continental type, and differ greatly from those of the Ryukyu Islands. Thus, Taiwan has been separated from the islands since the Middle Pleistocene, with the exception of the land bridge stage.

Endemics and adventives: Thysanoptera (Insecta) biodiversity of Norfolk, a tiny Pacific Island.

The thrips fauna of Norfolk Island is a curious mix of endemics and adventives, with notable absences that include one major trophic group. A brief introduction is provided to the history of human settlement and its ecological impact on this tiny land mass in the western Pacific Ocean. The Thysanoptera fauna comprises about 20% endemic and almost 50% widespread invasive species, and shows limited faunal relationships to the nearest territories, Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. This fauna, comprising 66 species, includes among named species 29 Terebrantia and 33 Tubulifera, with four Tubulifera remaining undescribed. At least 12 species are endemics, of which 10 are mycophagous, and up to 10 further species are possibly native to the island. As with the thrips fauna of most Pacific islands, many species are widespread invasives. However, most of the common thrips of eastern Australia have not been found on Norfolk Island, and the complete absence of leaf-feeding Phlaeothripinae is notable. The following new taxa are described: in the Phlaeothripidae, Buffettithrips rauti gen. et sp. n. and Priesneria akestra sp. n.; and in the Thripidae, Scirtothrips araucariae sp. n. and Thrips merae sp. n.

Upper Miocene endemic lacustrine gastropod fauna of the Turiec Basin: addressing taxonomic, paleobiogeographic and stratigraphic issues

Abstract The present work displays the first detailed taxonomic study on the freshwater gastropod fauna of the Upper Miocene Lake Turiec. Apart from several mentions of species and genus names in the literature, the mollusc fauna has been poorly studied up to now. Some of the cited genera implied peculiar paleobiogeographic relationships, urging a taxonomic investigation to either prove or revise such arising claims. Variable degrees of preservation, however, limited the possibility to identify all the fossils at species level. The fauna includes at least ten species, of which five turned out to be new to science. Four of those were sufficiently well preserved to be described as new species, namely Viviparus pipiki Neubauer & Harzhauser nov. sp., Melanopsis glaubrechti Neubauer & Harzhauser nov. sp., Tournouerina turiecensis Neubauer & Harzhauser nov. sp., and Radix kovaci Neubauer & Harzhauser nov. sp. Additionally, the new genus Popovicia Neubauer & Harzhauser nov. gen. is introduced for the primary homonym Metohia Popović, 1964 non Absolon, 1927. Most importantly, this taxonomic study revises many of the names cited in the literature and proves most of the alleged paleobiogeographic relationships wrong. The only biogeographic and stratigraphic surprise is the record of Popovicia cf. compressa, a species described from lower Pliocene deposits of the Metohia Basin in Kosovo. The majority of the fauna, however, has only been documented for the Turiec Basin, once more confirming the high degree of its endemicity. The faunal relationships indicate a latest Middle to early Late Pannonian (Middle to Late Tortonian) age, which is in agreement with available age models.

Zoogeographical affinities and faunal relationships of bee flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae) in Egypt

The distributions of 229 beefly (Diptera: Bombyliidae) species across the eight Egyptian ecological zones, together with their faunal affinities to the main zoogeographical regions, were used to test the suggestion of Holt et al. (2013) that the SaharoArabian is a distinct region rather than a subregion of the Palaearctic. All Egyptian ecological zones but one have greater affiliation to the Palaearctic and SaharoArabian than to the Afrotropical region; the Gebel Elba ecological zone, the southeastern triangle of Egypt, has greater affinities with the Afrotropics. Affinities to the Saharo-Arabian region were not different from those to the Palaearctic. From its bombyliid fauna, therefore, the Saharo-Arabian region is so closely allied to the Palaearctic as to constitute merely a subregion of it. Sinai shows a high level of endemism reflecting its isolation from other parts of Egypt.

Austral Thysanoptera: 100 years of progress

AbstractAn overview of the present state of knowledge of the insect order Thysanoptera in the four southern continents is provided. Knowledge of thrips biology and host associations has increased considerably in Australia, but not in the other three areas. The rich fauna of South America, particularly the southern areas, remains poorly explored, and faunal relationships across the Austral regions are not well documented.

Paleoecology of brachiopod communities during the late Paleozoic ice age in Bolivia (Copacabana Formation, Pennsylvanian–Early Permian)

Studies of modern ecological communities demonstrate that climate change may trigger changes in diversity and taxonomic composition; however, these studies are fundamentally limited to short timescales and therefore cannot demonstrate the full impact of major climate change. Understanding the ecological response of marine invertebrate communities to the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA), the last complete transition from icehouse to greenhouse, can establish a more complete picture of the climate–faunal relationship. We analyzed brachiopod community structure in Moscovian–Sakmarian (mid-Pennsylvanian to Early Permian) samples spanning the greatest extent of the LPIA, collected from four localities of the Copacabana Formation in Bolivia: Ancoraimes, Yaurichambi, Cuyavi, and Yampupata. Cluster analysis reveals three main groups that appear to coincide with pre-, syn-, and post-glacial times. Genus richness was significantly greater in samples during the Asselian glacial episode; however, the difference may be due to a combination of smaller body size and time averaged mixing of genera from different depths during more rapid glacioeustatic sea level change. Genera present in Bolivia consistently had warm-water affinities, even during the main glaciation, but warm-water taxa increased in abundance over time and the samples became increasingly dominated by characteristically North American genera. Overall mean body size and the size of particular genera were smaller in the Asselian cluster. These size changes likely reflect variations in substrate because marine invertebrates should be larger at cooler temperatures due to oxygen limitation at higher temperatures. The monotonic increase in abundance of warm-water genera and increasingly North American biogeographic affinity imply that community change was most likely the result of the northward drift of Bolivia rather than a response to late Paleozoic glacial–nonglacial cycles. This lack of climate related faunal change was probably a result of Bolivia's mid-latitude location during the late Paleozoic because both the rate of temperature change and its magnitude were likely smaller at lower latitudes, reducing the impact of climate change on marine communities.

Comparative biogeography of echinoids, bivalves and gastropods from the Southern Ocean

AbstractAimBiogeographical patterns within three classes, the Echinoidea, Bivalvia and Gastropoda, were investigated in Antarctic, sub‐Antarctic and cold‐temperate areas based on species occurrence data. Faunal similarities among regions were analysed to: (1) test the robustness of the biogeographical patterns previously identified in bivalves and gastropods; (2) compare them with the biogeographical patterns identified for echinoids; and (3) evaluate the reliability of the biogeographical provinces previously proposed, depending on the taxa and taxonomic levels analysed.LocationThe Southern Ocean, sub‐Antarctic islands and cold‐temperate areas south of 45° S latitude at depths of < 1000 m.MethodsTaxonomic similarities among 14 bioregions were analysed using a non‐hierarchical clustering method, the bootstrapped spanning network (BSN) procedure. Taxonomic similarities were analysed within the three classes at species and genus levels.ResultsThe previously identified large‐scale biogeographical entities are clarified. Echinoid and bivalve faunas are structured mainly according to three faunal provinces: (1) New Zealand, (2) southern South America and sub‐Antarctic islands, and (3) Antarctica. Gastropod faunas group into five provinces: (1) New Zealand, (2) southern South America, (3) east sub‐Antarctic islands, (4) West Antarctica, and (5) East Antarctica. Strong faunal relationships between bioregions perfectly match the flows of the Antarctic Circumpolar and Antarctic Coastal currents. Moreover, the legacy of the climatic and palaeoceanographic history of Antarctica is revealed by trans‐Antarctic faunal affinities, thereby strongly supporting hypotheses of past marine seaways that would have connected both the Amundsen–Bellingshausen area to the Weddell Sea and the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea.Main conclusionsA significant advantage of the BSN procedure lies in the possibility of identifying both biogeographical groupings and transitional areas; that is, both strong connections and groupings between bioregions. The method has also proved to be efficient for identifying potential faunal exchange pathways and dispersal routes, both present and past, by fitting networks to oceanographic and palaeogeographical maps.

Famennian ostracods from the Istanbul zone (Gebze, Kocaeli, NW Turkey) and their paleogeographical relations

Abstract Famennian (Late Devonian) ostracods of the Thuringian Mega-Assemblage were recovered for the first time from three incomplete sections of the Ayineburnu Member of the Büyükada Formation in the Denizliköy area (Gebze, NW Turkey), which were sampled for conodonts. Conodont faunas define an interval extending from the Upper rhomboidea? or Lower marginifera Zone into the Middle expansa Zone of the standard Upper Devonian conodont zonation. The ostracod faunas found here consist of species mainly with thin-walls, long spines and often smooth surfaces such as Rectonaria, Tricornina, Orthonaria, Triplacera, Beckerhealdia, Timorhealdia, Bohemina, Paraberounella and Acratia. These taxa indicate faunal relationship with Thuringia and the Rhenish Massif in Germany, the Cantabrian Mountains and Pyrenees in Spain, Holy Cross Mountains in Poland, North Africa and China.

Lamellicorn beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) in Korea and Mongolia

AbstractThis work was undertaken as an initial part of the collaborative effort between Korean and Mongolian researchers to study the terrestrial and aquatic insects in these countries. An analysis of data on faunal composition, taxonomic diversity and biogeographical structure of lamellicorn beetles in Korea and Mongolia was conducted in order to characterize the faunal relations between two countries. The Korean fauna of lamellicorn beetles is almost two fold greater in both generic diversity and species richness than that of Mongolia. The species compositions of lamellicorn beetles in two countries are substantially different from each other and the relative levels of faunal overlap are insignificant. Not only the faunal diversity and composition, but also the biogeographical structure of lamellicorn beetles in Korea and Mongolia display dissimilar patterns, except for their similar degree of endemism. Additional data on communities of dung beetles in the grasslands of central Mongolia, as well as a brief discussion on conservation issues of the endangered species in Korea, especially Gymnopleurus mopsus, are given.

Systematic, morphometric and palaeobiogeographic study of Blainia gregaria Walcott, 1916 (Trilobita, Ptychopariida), Middle Cambrian of the Precordillera of western Argentina

The ptychoparioid trilobite Blainia gregaria Walcott, 1916 is described for the first time from the late middle Cambrian (Series 3) of the Argentine Precordillera. It occurs commonly in the upper part of La Laja Formation, a carbonate platform succession that crops out in the Precordillera Oriental of San Juan where it reaches a thickness of some 600 m. Sections were sampled on cerro Tres Marías in Sierra de Marquesado and in quebrada de Zonda at the northern termination of Sierra Chica de Zonda. More than 1200 specimens were recovered from 22 stratigraphic levels over a thickness of 155 m, located in the uppermost 15 m of the Soldano Member, the approximately 100 m thick Rivadavia Member, and in the lower 40 m of the Juan Pobre Member. Our biometric study dealt with 205 cranidia and 365 pygidia from cerro Tres Marías. Measured dimensions of a subset of this collection provide bivariate datasets that in some characters show broad scatter plots and relatively low linear correlation coefficients, indicative of rather wide intraspecific morphological variation. Six morphotypes (three cranidial and three pygidial), recognized mainly on the basis of shape, occur together in the same collections. This evidence for an unusually high degree of variability leads to a proposed synonymy of some 30 previously named species in North America belonging to two genera, Blainia Walcott, 1916 and Glyphaspis Poulsen, 1927, the latter considered a junior synonym. The biogeographic distribution of B. gregaria, as redefined here, shows that it was an endemic Laurentian species that inhabited the inner parts of the carbonate platform that rimmed the craton and mantled portions of its interior. Its presence in western Argentina is further evidence for the very close faunal relationship between the Precordilleran terrane, known as Cuyania, and Laurentia during the Cambrian. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

New records and four new species of Australian Thripidae (Thysanoptera) emphasise faunal relationships between northern Australia and Asia

New records and four new species of Australian Thripidae (Thysanoptera) emphasise faunal relationships between northern Australia and Asia

Stratal, sedimentary and faunal relationships in the Coniacian 3rd-order sequence of the Iberian Basin, Spain

The Coniacian 3rd-order sequence in the Iberian Basin is represented by a carbonate ramp-like open platform. The biofacies is mainly dominated by nekto-benthic (such as ammonites) and benthic organisms (such as bivalves, mainly rudists) with scarce solitary corals (hermatypics are absent), showing major differences among the Transgressive System Tract (TST) and Highstand Normal Regression (HNR). During the TST, platform environments were dominated by Pycnodonte, other oysters and molluscs (with only subordinate rudists) and ammonites, which were represented by ornamented platycones ( Tissotioides and Prionocycloceras), and by smooth oxycones ( Tissotia and Hemitissotia). During the HNR, shallow water depositional areas were occupied by rudist-dominated associations. Storm- and wind-induced currents and waves acting on these associations produced large amounts of loose bioclastic debris that covered outer platform areas. This facies belt graded landwards into protected, lower-energy settings (inner platform, lagoon and littoral environments). Rudist biostromes were preserved in seaward areas of these protected shallow environments of overall moderate to low hydrodynamic gradient, which was punctuated by storms. In this environment and landwards, large areas of marly substrate favoured the presence of gastropods, other bivalves, echinoderms, benthic foraminifera and solitary corals. Because of the input of siliciclastics and, probably, the lack of nutrients in suspension, the establishment of rudist communities was difficult in more landward areas of the lagoon and in tidal environments. This heterozoan carbonate factory was thus controlled by warm-water conditions and high energy levels, which were responsible for high-nutrient contents in suspension.

New records and four new species of Australian Thripidae (Thysanoptera) emphasise faunal relationships between northern Australia and Asia

The following Thripidae taxa are newly recorded from northern Australia, and details are given for their recognition from related taxa: Oxythrips australopalmae sp. n., a likely pollinator of Normanbyia and Archontophoenix in Queensland but also taken on Cocos male flowers in New Britain; Projectothrips beverlyae sp. n. from Pandanus flowers; Rhamphothrips cissus sp. n. from the leaves of Cissus antarctica; R. amyae sp. n. from Callistemon leaves; R. tenuirostris (Karny) from Uncaria lanosai leaves; R. pandens Sakimura from Cassytha leaves; and Tusothrips setiprivus (Karny). Trichromothrips xanthius (Williams) is removed from the Australian list. Tusothrips atrichotus Reyes from the Philippines is synonymised with the widespread Asian species T. teinostomus Okajima. The previously unknown male of Rhamphothrips pandens is described from Western Australia.

Native <i>Dreissena</i> freshwater mussels in the Balkans: in and out of ancient lakes

Abstract. The Balkans is a biogeographically highly diverse region and a worldwide hotspot of endemic freshwater diversity. A substantial part of this diversity is attributed to well recognized and potential ancient lakes in its southwestern part. However, despite considerable research efforts, faunal relationships among those lakes are not well understood. Therefore, genetic information from native representatives of the mussel genus Dreissena is here used to test the biogeographical zonation of the southwestern Balkans, to relate demographic changes to environmental changes, to assess the degree of eco-insularity, to reconstruct their evolutionary history, and to explore the potential of native taxa for becoming invasive. Phylogeographical and population genetic analyses indicate that most studied populations belong to two native species: D. presbensis (including the distinct genetic subgroup from Lake Ohrid, "D. stankovici") and D. blanci. In addition, the first confirmed record of invasive D. polymorpha in the southwestern Balkan is presented. The distribution of native Dreissena spp. generally coincides with the biogeographical zonations previously suggested based on fish data. However, there is disagreement on the assignment of the ancient lakes in the area to respective biogeographical regions. The data for Lake Ohrid are not conclusive. A closer biogeographical connection to lakes of the Vardar region and possibly the northern Ionian region is, however, suggested for Lake Prespa. The reconstruction of the evolutionary history of Dreissena spp. suggests that populations underwent demographic and spatial expansions in the recent past. Expansions started around 320 000–300 000 years ago in "D. stankovici", 160 000–140 000 years ago in D. blanci, and 110 000–70 000 years ago in D. presbensis. These time frames are discussed within the context of available paleogeological data for lakes Ohrid and Prespa. It is suggested that regional environmental changes may have had pronounced effects on the population histories of native Dreissena spp., though the high buffer capacity of Lake Ohrid may have lessened these effects in "D. stankovici". In addition, local events influencing individual lakes had very likely considerable effects on the demographic histories of Dreissena spp. as well. The observed patterns of immigration and emigration in and out of ancient lakes may suggest that limited gene flow enabled the survival of few isolated subpopulations and that later on eco-insularity (selective advantages of locally adopted groups) may have prevented excessive hybridization and sympatry of closely related taxa. As for the potential invasiveness of native Dreissena spp., the inferred spatial expansions are not human-mediated and all taxa still appear to be restricted to their native ranges. A concern, however, is that today D. presbensis and D. blanci also occur in artificial water bodies, and that invasive D. polymorpha has reached the area.

Middle–late Asselian (Early Permian) fusulinid fauna from the post-Variscan cover in NW Anatolia (Turkey): Biostratigraphy and geological implications

The earliest autochthonous cover of the Variscan basement of the Sakarya Composite Terrane (SCT) in NW Anatolia is represented by basal conglomerates and limestones. The microfacies types of the limestones in ascending order are: (1) bioclastic grainstone/packstone, (2) fusulinid grainstone/packstone, (3) smaller foraminiferal grainstone/packstone, (4) Anthracoporella (dasycladale) grainstone/packstone, and (5) wackestones. Twenty-three species assignable to 15 genera of fusulinids were recovered from the studied materials of the Kadirler section; Quasifusulina guvenci nov. sp. and Pseudoschwagerina beedei magna nov. subsp. are created. Rugosofusulinids, sphaeroschwagerinids, pseudoschwagerinids, occidentoschwagerinids, pseudochusenellids, quasifusulinids, rugosochusenellids and paraschwagerinids are the main faunal elements of the succession, which shows two distinct faunal intervals. Eoschubertella, Schubertella, Biwaella?, Rugosofusulina stabilis group, and Pseudochusenella correspond to the first interval at the base; the second interval is characterized by the species of Sphaeroschwagerina, Pseudoschwagerina, Occidentoschwagerina, the Rugosofusulina latispiralis group, and diverse quasifusulinids. A biostratigraphic correlation shows that the Kadirler section in the SCT in NW Anatolia shares many common species with Central Asia in the East but especially with the Carnic Alps and Karavanke Mountains in the West. The new data suggest that the close faunal relationship in the Late Carboniferous between eastern Alps, Ural Mountains, NW Turkey and Central Asia also continued during the Asselian.

Skull anatomy of Dakosaurus andiniensis (Thalattosuchia: Crocodylomorpha) and the phylogenetic position of Thalattosuchia

Synopsis New information on Dakosaurus andiniensis from the Latest Jurassic and Early Cretaceous is reported here. One of the specimens described herein consists of an almost complete skull and lower jaw found in the uppermost levels of the Vaca Muerta Formation (Tithonian) of Neuquén Province, Argentina. The new material allows a more complete understanding and diagnosis of this form, previously known only from the fragmentary type specimen. The new remains show that D. andiniensis had an unusual morphology for a marine crocodyliform,namely a remarkably short, high snout with ziphodont dentition. This new information allows testing of the phylogenetic relationships of this taxon, which is depicted as deeply nested within Metriorhynchidae, a clade of marine crocodyliforms with derived adaptations to the marine environment (e.g. paddle‐like forelimbs, hypertrophied nasal salt glands). In particular, D. andiniensis is inferred to be the sister taxon of D. maximus from the Jurassic of Europe. This relationship repeats the phylogenetic pattern seen in other Jurassic marine crocodyliforms from South America and Europe (e.g. Geosaurus), demonstrating the close faunal relationship between these two distant marine basins. The phylogenetic analysis reported here results in a most parsimonious hypothesis that depicts Thalattosuchia nested within Neosuchia and the strength and character evidence supporting this position is presented. In addition, several characters traditionally postulated as dependent upon the longirostrine morphology are critically examined under the light of new evidence. Most of them show a character state distribution that is not strictly compatible with that of the longirostrine condition and, therefore, are interpreted as independent units of phylogenetic evidence.

Reevaluating sponge diversity and distribution in the Mediterranean Sea

The aim of this paper was (1) to update sponge diversity and distribution in the Mediterranean and (2) to re-examine faunal relationships among the Mediterranean areas on the basis of their sponge fauna. The Mediterranean demosponge faunal list was updated to 629 species by taking into consideration recent data from previously poorly studied areas. The species lists of 14 Mediterranean areas were compared on the basis of their sponge species richness, species composition, and taxonomic relatedness of species using multivariate analyses and diversity measures, such as PD, Delta+, and Lambda+. The 14 Mediterranean areas examined for their diversity and affinities were assembled into four major zoogeographic groups: the northwestern, northeastern, the central zone, and southeastern areas. Richest in species numbers were the areas belonging to the two northern groups. The species richness comparisons and similarity analyses performed at the generic level showed that it can be safely used as a surrogate for sponge species diversity in the Mediterranean. The results of this study showed that the simple traditional division of the Mediterranean Sea into a western, central, and eastern basin cannot reliably describe the distribution of sponges in the area. Thus, the W to E faunal decline previously presented for several faunal groups shifts to a general NNW-SSE pattern when one examines separately the northern and the southern parts of the traditional basins. This gradient seems to be in agreement with differences in key environmental variables, such as latitude, salinity, temperature, and water circulation, besides the typically examined distance from Gibraltar.

Faunal relationship of Quaternary mammals between western Japan with emphasis on the Akiyoshi-dai Plateau and the adjacent continent

Faunal relationship of Quaternary mammals between western Japan with emphasis on the Akiyoshi-dai Plateau and the adjacent continent

MODERN BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA IN THE SURFACE SEDIMENTS OF THE BEAUFORT SHELF, SLOPE AND MACKENZIE TROUGH, BEAUFORT SEA, CANADA: TAXONOMY AND SUMMARY OF SURFICIAL DISTRIBUTIONS

Research Article| July 01, 2008 MODERN BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA IN THE SURFACE SEDIMENTS OF THE BEAUFORT SHELF, SLOPE AND MACKENZIE TROUGH, BEAUFORT SEA, CANADA: TAXONOMY AND SUMMARY OF SURFICIAL DISTRIBUTIONS David B. Scott; David B. Scott 4 1Centre for Environmental and Marine Geology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H3J5, Canada. 4Correspondence author. E-mail: David.Scott@Dal.Ca Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Trecia Schell; Trecia Schell 1Centre for Environmental and Marine Geology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H3J5, Canada. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar André Rochon; André Rochon 2ISMER, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, Quebec G5L 3A1, Canada. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Steve Blasco Steve Blasco 3Natural Resources Canada, 1 Challenger Drive, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y4A2, Canada. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Journal of Foraminiferal Research (2008) 38 (3): 228–250. https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.38.3.228 Article history received: 29 Nov 2007 accepted: 02 Feb 2008 first online: 03 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation David B. Scott, Trecia Schell, André Rochon, Steve Blasco; MODERN BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA IN THE SURFACE SEDIMENTS OF THE BEAUFORT SHELF, SLOPE AND MACKENZIE TROUGH, BEAUFORT SEA, CANADA: TAXONOMY AND SUMMARY OF SURFICIAL DISTRIBUTIONS. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 2008;; 38 (3): 228–250. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.38.3.228 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyJournal of Foraminiferal Research Search Advanced Search Abstract This paper reviews some new data on distribution patterns of modern benthic foraminifera and related organisms from the Canadian Arctic, specifically the Beaufort Shelf and slope. The smaller sizes—45–63 μm as well as >63 μm—were examined, and it was discovered that many species had either been overlooked altogether or severely underrepresented in previous studies. Not surprisingly, the deep-sea forms in particular had been overlooked even though they are present in the shallow shelf sediments in significant numbers. Although the data show many of the same species as previous studies, improved techniques of sample processing greatly increased the numbers of specimens and species found, enhancing the spatial and faunal relationships. These new data change the known faunas and will allow a much more precise indication for paleoenvironmental studies than was previously available. However, the major focus of this paper is taxonomy and illustration of most of these species to update the taxonomy last done in the 1990’s. One new species is reported, Cyclogyra distincta Cole and Scott, and Komokiacea (excluding Rhizammina algaeformis Brady) are reported from the Arctic for the first time as well as a southern immigrant, Elphidiella hannai (Cushman and Grant), which appears to thrive in methane-rich environments in the Arctic. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Devonian ostracods from western Canada — palaeozoogeographic implications

The stratigraphical significance, evolutionary pathways and distribution patterns of Devonian (with emphasis on Middle Devonian) ostracods occurring in western Canada are reviewed. The overall faunal appearance is Devonian in aspect. Typical Eifelian-Givetian markers are ascertainable at the generic level, and occasionally resemble known species. Recognised genera mostly comprise cosmopolitan forms indicating (close or loose) faunal connections to both north and south, but also representing either Old World or true New World forms. A “core group”, however, shows a particular bauplan giving a unique aspect, mainly discrete palaeocopine genera, provided with particular extradomiciliar dimorphic features and considered to be endemic for the Middle Devonian of western Canada. In terms of palaeozoogeography, faunal relationships inside Canada and to Devonian occurrences overseas are demonstrated. Connections between sedimentary transgressive-regressive and evolutionary cycles are demonstrated in terms of event-stratigraphy. Against the background of plate tectonic analyses, assumed migration paths are considered, probably northward via the Uralian Sea to Siberia, but certainly and on a larger scale southward across the Rheic Ocean to North Africa (southwestern Morocco, central Sahara) and Europe (Eifel region, eastern Thuringia, Holy Cross Mountains). As a result, the faunal relationship to the adjacent Great Lakes region appears to be much closer than originally predicted, while only loose contacts are traceable to the North American Midcontinent region. The North African and central European relationships are revealed by few, but conspicuous genera and, to some extent, this may be true of the Russian Platform and Bashkiria.