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1
Pearman, T. R. R., Paul E. Brewin, Alastair M. M. Baylis, and Paul Brickle. "Deep-Sea Epibenthic Megafaunal Assemblages of the Falkland Islands, Southwest Atlantic." Diversity 14, no. 8 (August 10, 2022): 637. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d14080637.
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Deep-sea environments face increasing pressure from anthropogenic exploitation and climate change, but remain poorly studied. Hence, there is an urgent need to compile quantitative baseline data on faunal assemblages, and improve our understanding of the processes that drive faunal assemblage composition in deep-sea environments. The Southwest Atlantic deep sea is an undersampled region that hosts unique and globally important faunal assemblages. To date, our knowledge of these assemblages has been predominantly based on ex situ analysis of scientific trawl and fisheries bycatch specimens, limiting our ability to characterise faunal assemblages. Incidental sampling and fisheries bycatch data indicate that the Falkland Islands deep sea hosts a diversity of fauna, including vulnerable marine ecosystem (VME) indicator taxa. To increase our knowledge of Southwest Atlantic deep-sea epibenthic megafauna assemblages, benthic imagery, comprising 696 images collected along the upper slope (1070–1880 m) of the Falkland Islands conservation zones (FCZs) in 2014, was annotated, with epibenthic megafauna and substrata recorded. A suite of terrain derivatives were also calculated from GEBCO bathymetry and oceanographic variables extracted from global models. The environmental conditions coincident with annotated image locations were calculated, and multivariate analysis was undertaken using 288 ‘sample’ images to characterize faunal assemblages and discern their environmental drivers. Three main faunal assemblages representing two different sea pen and cup coral assemblages, and an assemblage characterised by sponges and Stylasteridae, were identified. Subvariants driven by varying dominance of sponges, Stylasteridae, and the stony coral, Bathelia candida, were also observed. The fauna observed are consistent with that recorded for the wider southern Patagonian Slope. Several faunal assemblages had attributes of VMEs. Faunal assemblages appear to be influenced by the interaction between topography and the Falkland Current, which, in turn, likely influences substrata and food availability. Our quantitative analyses provide a baseline for the southern Patagonian shelf/slope environment of the FCZs, against which to compare other assemblages and assess environmental drivers and anthropogenic impacts.
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Storer, John E., and Harold N. Bryant. "Biostratigraphy of the Cypress Hills Formation (Eocene to Miocene), Saskatchewan: equid types (Mammalia: Perissodactyla) and associated faunal assemblages." Journal of Paleontology 67, no. 4 (July 1993): 660–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022336000024987.
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Among the equid species named from the Cypress Hills Formation (Eocene to Miocene) of Saskatchewan, Mesohippus westoni and M. propinquus are documented from the early Chadronian Calf Creek local fauna, and M. westoni is also known from the earlier Southfork local fauna and from other Chadronian and Orellan deposits of western North America. Teeth possibly referable to Miohippus assiniboiensis are found in association with Whitneyan or early Arikareean assemblages. Miohippus grandis, not M. assiniboiensis, is the correct reference for larger Chadronian equids from Calf Creek and other local faunas. Archaeohippus stenolophus (new combination) is preserved in latest Arikareean or early Hemingfordian beds of the Cypress Hills, and occurs in faunal assemblages that show strong resemblances to the Runningwater assemblage of Nebraska.
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Kostopoulos, D. S., and G. D. Koufos. "SIMILARITY RELATIONSHIPS AMONG GREEK MIDDLE MIOCENE TO EARLY - MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE MAMMAL ASSEMBLAGES." Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece 40, no. 1 (June 8, 2018): 134. http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/bgsg.16498.
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The Greek fossil record of small and large mammal Local Faunal Assemblages is studied and compared by means of cluster analysis techniques using Jaccard similarity index and unweighted pair-group method. The analysis allow recognizing a good arrangement of the Greek LFAs according to time and a main cluster gap, corresponding to an important faunal renewal that, however, is not synchronous in the large and small mammal community. Minor groupings of large mammal faunas seem also to fit with main climatic trends, whereas the small mammal assemblage appears to undergo longer periods oftaxonomic stability
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Rogers, Alan R. "On Equifinality in Faunal Analysis." American Antiquity 65, no. 4 (October 2000): 709–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2694423.
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A faunal assemblage may be dominated by dense bones either because the soft ones have been transported away or because they have been gnawed beyond recognition. Archaeologists have often despaired of distinguishing between these hypotheses and have attributed the problem to equifinality-to the fact that different causes can produce identical outcomes. Yet under the models of transport and attrition studied here, these causes do not produce identical outcomes. It has been difficult to distinguish between them only because conventional statistical methods lack power. Using the new method of abcml (Analysis of Bone Counts by Maximum Likelihood), it is easy to distinguish assemblages that were deposited by different agents. It is also possible to distinguish between assemblages that have suffered differing degrees of attritional damage, but this distinction is more difficult to make. It is also shown that the conventional method for recognizing attritional damage in faunal assemblages is remarkably low in power. The paper closes with a discussion of the word "equifinality" itself.
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Woinarski, J. C. Z., B. Rankmore, B. Hill, A. D. Griffiths, A. Stewart, and B. Grace. "Fauna assemblages in regrowth vegetation in tropical open forests of the Northern Territory, Australia." Wildlife Research 36, no. 8 (2009): 675. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr08128.
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Context. World-wide, primary forest is in decline. This places increasing importance on understanding the use by biodiversity of regrowth (secondary) forest, and on the management of such regrowth. Aims. This study aimed to compare the terrestrial vertebrate assemblages in tropical eucalypt forests, regrowth in these forests (following clearing for pastoral intensification) and cleared land without regrowth, to provide evidence for developing management guidelines for regrowth vegetation in a region (the Daly catchment of the Northern Territory) subject to increasing demands for land-use intensification. Methods. The terrestrial vertebrate fauna was surveyed consistently at 43 quadrats sampling forest, 38 sampling regrowth and 19 sampling cleared land (formerly forest), and the faunal composition was compared with ordination and analysis of variance. Further analysis used generalised linear modelling to include consideration of the relative importance of disturbance (condition) of quadrats. Key results. Faunal assemblages in regrowth vegetation were found to be intermediate between cleared land and intact forest, and converged towards the faunal assemblage typical of intact forest with increase in the canopy height of the regrowth. However, even the tallest regrowth quadrats that were sampled supported relatively few hollow-associated species. The management of fire, weeds and grazing pressure substantially affected the faunal assemblages of the set of regrowth and intact forest quadrats, in many cases being a more important determinant of faunal attributes than was whether or not the quadrat had been cleared. Conclusions. In this region, regrowth vegetation has value as habitat for fauna, with this value increasing as the regrowth structure increases. The convergence of the faunal composition of regrowth vegetation to that of intact forest may be substantially affected by post-clearing management factors (including fire regime and level of grazing pressure and weed infestation). Implications. Regrowth vegetation should be afforded appropriate regulatory protection, with the level of protection increasing as the regrowth increases in stature.
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Laird, Joshua D., and Christina L. Belanger. "Quantifying successional change and ecological similarity among Cretaceous and modern cold-seep faunas." Paleobiology 45, no. 1 (December 27, 2018): 114–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/pab.2018.41.
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AbstractAccurately recognizing analogues between fossil and modern ecosystems allows paleoecologists to more fully interpret fossil assemblages and modern ecologists to leverage the fossil record to address long-term ecological and environmental changes. However, this becomes increasingly difficult as taxonomic turnover increases the dissimilarity between ecosystems. Here we use a guild-based approach to compare the ecological similarity of Cretaceous cold-seep assemblages preserved in the Pierre Shale surrounding the Black Hills and modern cold-seep assemblages from five previously recognized biofacies. We modify modern assemblage data to include only those taxa with fossilizable hard parts greater than 5 mm in length to make these modern data sets more comparable to potential fossil analogues. We find that while the Black Hills assemblages are more similar in ecological guild composition to the modern thyasirid biofacies, subsets share similarities in ecological structure to the lucinid and mussel-bed biofacies. The fossil seep assemblages are also more similar to one another than are modern assemblages belonging to the same biofacies, despite greater geographic and temporal dissimilarity among the fossil samples. Furthermore, guild-level ordination analyses show a secondary faunal gradient that reflects community succession in the hard substrate–dominated modern assemblages and reveals a parallel faunal gradient in the soft sediment–dominated Cretaceous assemblages, consistent with a gradient in the influence of seep fluids on the faunas. Thus, while the Black Hills assemblages are quite homogeneous in their composition, they capture ecological variation similar to successional patterns in modern seep systems.
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Rowan, John, Ignacio A. Lazagabaster, Christopher J. Campisano, Faysal Bibi, René Bobe, Jean-Renaud Boisserie, Stephen R. Frost, et al. "Early Pleistocene large mammals from Maka’amitalu, Hadar, lower Awash Valley, Ethiopia." PeerJ 10 (April 6, 2022): e13210. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13210.
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The Early Pleistocene was a critical time period in the evolution of eastern African mammal faunas, but fossil assemblages sampling this interval are poorly known from Ethiopia’s Afar Depression. Field work by the Hadar Research Project in the Busidima Formation exposures (~2.7–0.8 Ma) of Hadar in the lower Awash Valley, resulted in the recovery of an early Homo maxilla (A.L. 666-1) with associated stone tools and fauna from the Maka’amitalu basin in the 1990s. These assemblages are dated to ~2.35 Ma by the Bouroukie Tuff 3 (BKT-3). Continued work by the Hadar Research Project over the last two decades has greatly expanded the faunal collection. Here, we provide a comprehensive account of the Maka’amitalu large mammals (Artiodactyla, Carnivora, Perissodactyla, Primates, and Proboscidea) and discuss their paleoecological and biochronological significance. The size of the Maka’amitalu assemblage is small compared to those from the Hadar Formation (3.45–2.95 Ma) and Ledi-Geraru (2.8–2.6 Ma) but includes at least 20 taxa. Bovids, suids, and Theropithecus are common in terms of both species richness and abundance, whereas carnivorans, equids, and megaherbivores are rare. While the taxonomic composition of the Maka’amitalu fauna indicates significant species turnover from the Hadar Formation and Ledi-Geraru deposits, turnover seems to have occurred at a constant rate through time as taxonomic dissimilarity between adjacent fossil assemblages is strongly predicted by their age difference. A similar pattern characterizes functional ecological turnover, with only subtle changes in dietary proportions, body size proportions, and bovid abundances across the composite lower Awash sequence. Biochronological comparisons with other sites in eastern Africa suggest that the taxa recovered from the Maka’amitalu are broadly consistent with the reported age of the BKT-3 tuff. Considering the age of BKT-3 and biochronology, a range of 2.4–1.9 Ma is most likely for the faunal assemblage.
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Rifai, Husen. "Benthic faunal assemblages in seagrass meadows in Albany, Western Australia." AQUATIC SCIENCE & MANAGEMENT 7, no. 1 (September 21, 2019): 19. http://dx.doi.org/10.35800/jasm.7.1.2019.24996.
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Title (Bahasa Indonesia): Kumpulan fauna bentik di hamparan lamun di Albany, Australia Barat In order to compare benthic fauna assemblages in four locations of seagrass beds in Albany (Princess Royal Harbour, Oyster Harbour, Two People Bay and Frenchman Bay), a research had beenconducted between 18 and 21 April 2017. There were two aims of this study. First, to investigate six sites within four locations with various degree of anthropogenic impact in order to understand the faunal richness and abundance in those locations. Second, to measure and record the environmental factors which are assumed to be important regulators of the observed patterns between the sites. The result showed that the highest faunal abundance (227 Faunal) was found at Frenchman Bay, a less anthropogenically impacted area, while the lowest abundance (26 Faunal) was at Oyster Harbour-Emu Point which was an anthropogenically affected site. However, in terms of faunal diversity, there was no significant difference among all sites. The environmental factor which had significant relationship with the difference in benthic faunal assemblages at each site was found to be coarse sand.Satu kegiatan penelitian pada tanggal 18 hingga 21 April 2017 telah dilakukan untuk membandingkan kumpulan fauna bentik di empat lokasi padang lamun di Albany (Pelabuhan Princess Royal, Pelabuhan Oyster, Teluk Two People, dan Teluk Frenchman). Penelitian inimempunyai dua tujuan, yaitu: 1) menyelidiki enam titik penelitian yang beradadalam empat lokasi dengan berbagai tingkat dampak antropogenik untuk memahami kekayaan dan kelimpahan fauna di lokasi tersebut; dan 2) mengukur dan mencatat faktor-faktor lingkungan yang dianggap berperan sebagai pengaturdari pola yang diamati pada semua lokasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan,bahwa kelimpahan fauna tertinggi (227 fauna) ditemukan di Teluk Frenchmanyang merupakandaerah yang kurang terdampak gangguan antropogenik;sedangkan kelimpahan terendah (26 individu) ditemukandi Oyster Harbour-Emu Point yang merupakan lokasi yang terpengaruh secaraantropogenik. Namun, dalam hal keanekaragaman fauna, tidak ada perbedaan yang signifikan di antarasemua lokasi. Faktor lingkungan yang memiliki hubungan signifikan dengan perbedaan kumpulan fauna bentik di masing-masing lokasi ialah pasir kasar.
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Lee, Sangmin, Duck K. Choi, and G. R. Shi. "Pennsylvanian brachiopods from the Geumcheon-Jangseong Formation, Pyeongan Supergroup, Taebaeksan Basin, Korea." Journal of Paleontology 84, no. 3 (May 2010): 417–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/09-105.1.
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We provide the first detailed systematic taxonomy and paleoecological investigation of late Paleozoic brachiopod faunas from Korea. Specifically, we focus on the brachiopods from the Geumcheon-Jangseong Formation, the lower part of the Pyeongan Supergroup in the Taebaeksan Basin. The formation yields a variety of marine invertebrate fossils, including brachiopods, molluscs, echinoderms, corals, fusulinids, and conodonts. Diverse brachiopods are described from six siliciclastic horizons of the formation at three localities, including 23 species belonging to 20 genera with two new species: Rhipidomella parva n. sp. and Stenoscisma wooi n. sp. Three brachiopod assemblages of the late Moscovian (Pennsylvanian) age are recognized based on their species compositions and stratigraphic distributions, namely the Choristites, Rhipidomella, and Hustedia assemblages. The brachiopod faunal composition varies within each assemblage as well as between the Assemblages, most likely reflecting local paleoenvironmental and hence paleoecological differences. The Choristites Assemblage includes relatively large brachiopods represented by Derbyia, Choristites, and Stenoscisma and may have inhabited open marine to partly restricted marine environments, whereas the Rhipidomella and Hustedia Assemblages consist of a small number of small-sized brachiopods living in lagoonal environments. The Choristites Assemblage shows a close affinity with Moscovian brachiopod assemblages in the eastern Paleo-Tethys regions, especially the Brachythyrina lata-Choristites yanghukouensis-Echinoconchus elegans Assemblage of North China, whereas the Rhipidomella and Hustedia assemblages both exhibit strong endemism.
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Nasser, Nawaf A., R. Timothy Patterson, Jennifer M. Galloway, and Hendrik Falck. "Intra-lake response of Arcellinida (testate lobose amoebae) to gold mining-derived arsenic contamination in northern Canada: Implications for environmental monitoring." PeerJ 8 (May 4, 2020): e9054. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9054.
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Arcellinida (testate lobose amoebae) were examined from 40 near-surface sediment samples (top 0.5 cm) from two lakes impacted by arsenic (As) contamination associated with legacy gold mining in subarctic Canada. The objectives of the study are two folds: quantify the response of Arcellinida to intra-lake variability of As and other physicochemical controls, and evaluate whether the impact of As contamination derived from two former gold mines, Giant Mine (1938–2004) and Tundra Mine (1964–1968 and 1983–1986), on the Arcellinida distribution in both lakes is comparable or different. Cluster analysis and nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) were used to identify Arcellinida assemblages in both lakes, and redundancy analysis (RDA) was used to quantify the relationship between the assemblages, As, and other geochemical and sedimentological parameters. Cluster analysis and NMDS revealed four distinct arcellinidan assemblages in Frame Lake (assemblages 1–4) and two in Hambone Lake (assemblages 5 and 6): (1) Extreme As Contamination (EAC) Assemblage; (2) High calcium (HC) Assemblage; (3) Moderate As Contamination (MAC) assemblages; (4) High Nutrients (HN) Assemblage; (5) High Diversity (HD) Assemblage; and (6) Centropyxis aculeata (CA) Assemblage. RDA analysis showed that the faunal structure of the Frame Lake assemblages was controlled by five variables that explained 43.2% of the total faunal variance, with As (15.8%), Olsen phosphorous (Olsen-P; 10.5%), and Ca (9.5%) being the most statistically significant (p < 0.004). Stress-tolerant arcellinidan taxa were associated with elevated As concentrations (e.g., EAC and MAC; As concentrations range = 145.1–1336.6 mg kg−1; n = 11 samples), while stress-sensitive taxa thrived in relatively healthier assemblages found in substrates with lower As concentrations and higher concentrations of nutrients, such as Olsen-P and Ca (e.g., HC and HM; As concentrations range = 151.1–492.3 mg kg−1; n = 14 samples). In contrast, the impact of As on the arcellinidan distribution was not statistically significant in Hambone Lake (7.6%; p-value = 0.152), where the proportion of silt (24.4%; p-value = 0.005) and loss-on-ignition-determined minerogenic content (18.5%; p-value = 0.021) explained a higher proportion of the total faunal variance (58.4%). However, a notable decrease in arcellinidan species richness and abundance and increase in the proportions of stress-tolerant fauna near Hambone Lake’s outlet (e.g., CA samples) is consistent with a spatial gradient of higher sedimentary As concentration near the outlet, and suggests a lasting, albeit weak, As influence on Arcellinida distribution in the lake. We interpret differences in the influence of sedimentary As concentration on Arcellinida to differences in the predominant As mineralogy in each lake, which is in turn influenced by differences in ore-processing at the former Giant (roasting) and Tundra mines (free-milling).
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Mancosu, Andrea, and James H. Nebelsick. "Paleoecology of sublittoral Miocene echinoids from Sardinia: A case study for substrate controls of faunal distributions." Journal of Paleontology 93, no. 04 (April 11, 2019): 764–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2019.4.
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AbstractA rich echinoid fauna within the middle Miocene carbonate sedimentary succession cropping out along the coast between Santa Caterina di Pittinuri and S'Archittu (central-western Sardinia) allows the comparison of faunal gradients and preservation potentials from both hard and soft substrata. Three echinoid assemblages are recognized. Faunal composition, as well as taphonomic and sedimentological features and functional morphological interpretation of the echinoid test indicate an outer sublittoral setting. Assemblage 1 represents a highly structured environment within the photic zone, with mobile substrata occupied by infaunal irregular echinoids, mainly spatangoids, and localized hard substrata, provided by rhodolith beds, with epibenthic regular echinoids represented by the co-occurrence of the diadematidDiademaGray, 1825 and the toxopneustidsTripneustesL. Agassiz, 1841 andSchizechinusPomel, 1869. Assemblage 2 shows a higher diversity of irregular echinoids, dominated by the clypeasteroidsEchinocyamusvan Phelsum, 1774 andClypeasterLamarck, 1801 and different spatangoids, with the minute trigonocidaridGenocidarisA. Agassiz, 1869 among regular echinoids. This assemblage points to a soft-bottom environment with moderate water-energy conditions, periodically affected by storms. A low-diversity echinoid fauna in Assemblage 3, dominated by the spatangoidsBrissopsisL. Agassiz, 1840 andOvaGray, 1825, documents a deeper, soft-bottom environment, possibly below storm-wave base. These results indicate that the diversity of echinoid faunas originating in sublittoral environments is related to: (1) the presence of both soft and hard substrata, (2) differential preservation potentials of the various echinoid taxa, (3) intense bioturbation, and (4) sediment deposition by sporadic storm events.
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Frinault, Bétina A. V., Frazer D. W. Christie, Sarah E. Fawcett, Raquel F. Flynn, Katherine A. Hutchinson, Chloë M. J. Montes Strevens, Michelle L. Taylor, Lucy C. Woodall, and David K. A. Barnes. "Antarctic Seabed Assemblages in an Ice-Shelf-Adjacent Polynya, Western Weddell Sea." Biology 11, no. 12 (November 25, 2022): 1705. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology11121705.
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Ice shelves cover ~1.6 million km2 of the Antarctic continental shelf and are sensitive indicators of climate change. With ice-shelf retreat, aphotic marine environments transform into new open-water spaces of photo-induced primary production and associated organic matter export to the benthos. Predicting how Antarctic seafloor assemblages may develop following ice-shelf loss requires knowledge of assemblages bordering the ice-shelf margins, which are relatively undocumented. This study investigated seafloor assemblages, by taxa and functional groups, in a coastal polynya adjacent to the Larsen C Ice Shelf front, western Weddell Sea. The study area is rarely accessed, at the frontline of climate change, and located within a CCAMLR-proposed international marine protected area. Four sites, ~1 to 16 km from the ice-shelf front, were explored for megabenthic assemblages, and potential environmental drivers of assemblage structures were assessed. Faunal density increased with distance from the ice shelf, with epifaunal deposit-feeders a surrogate for overall density trends. Faunal richness did not exhibit a significant pattern with distance from the ice shelf and was most variable at sites closest to the ice-shelf front. Faunal assemblages significantly differed in composition among sites, and those nearest to the ice shelf were the most dissimilar; however, ice-shelf proximity did not emerge as a significant driver of assemblage structure. Overall, the study found a biologically-diverse and complex seafloor environment close to an ice-shelf front and provides ecological baselines for monitoring benthic ecosystem responses to environmental change, supporting marine management.
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Mörs, Th. "Biostratigraphy and paleoecology of continental Tertiary vertebrate faunas in the Lower Rhine Embayment (NW-Germany)." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences - Geologie en Mijnbouw 81, no. 2 (August 2002): 177–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600022411.
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AbstractThis paper discusses the faunal content, the mammal biostratigraphy, and the environmental ecology of three important continental Tertiary vertebrate faunas from the Lower Rhine Embayment. The sites investigated are Rott (MP 30, Late Oligocene), Hambach 6C (MN 5, Middle Miocene), Frechen and Hambach 11 (both MN 16, Late Pliocene). Comparative analysis of the entire faunas shows the assemblages to exhibit many conformities in their general composition, presumably resulting from their preference for wet lowlands. It appears that very similar environmental conditions for vertebrates reoccurred during at least 20 Ma although the sites are located in a tectonically active region with high subsidence rates. Differences in the faunal composition are partly due to local differences in the depositional environment of the sites: lake deposits at the margin of the embayment (Rott), coal swamp and estuarine conditions in the centre of the embayment (Hambach 6C), and flood plain environments with small rivulets (Frechen and Hambach 11). The composition of the faunal assemblages (diversity and taxonomy) also documents faunal turnovers with extinctions and immigrations (Oligocene/Miocene and postMiddle Miocene), as a result of changing climate conditions.Additional vertebrate faunal data were retrieved from two new assemblages collected from younger strata at the Hambach mine (Hambach 11C and 14). They are important for the understanding of the Plio-Pleistocene transition in the southern part of the Lower Rhine Embayment and for correlating depositional sequences in the Dutch/German borderland.
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Krivicich, Elyssa B., William I. Ausich, and David L. Meyer. "Crinoid assemblages from the Fort Payne Formation (late Osagean, early Viséan, Mississippian) from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama." Journal of Paleontology 88, no. 6 (November 2014): 1154–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/13-180.
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The Mississippian Fort Payne Formation of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama is well known for its abundant crinoids and a diverse array of autochthonous and allochthonous carbonate and siliciclastic facies. Using Principal Coordinate Analysis and Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling, it is demonstrated that distinct, contemporaneous, and geographically adjacent autochthonous facies in south-central Kentucky supported distinct crinoid assemblages. The two carbonate buildup facies had different assemblages dominated by camerate crinoids, carbonate channel-fill deposits were dominated by advanced cladid crinoids and the camerateElegantocrinus hemisphaericus, and green shale facies supported a fauna dominated by disparids and primitive cladid crinoids. Allochthonous facies contain neither distinctive nor exotic taxa. Thus, these transported assemblages are considered a mixture of elements from the recognized, autochthonous facies. Faunal assemblages from Dale Hollow Reservoir are allochthonous; and faunas in north-central Alabama and south-central Tennessee are different from others, which may reflect slight biogeographic distinctions.
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Simões, Marcello Guimarães, Juliana Machado David, Luiz Eduardo Anelli, Carla Klein, Suzana Aparecida Matos, Vitor Bonatto Guerrini, and Lucas Veríssimo Warren. "The Permian Tiaraju bivalve assemblage, Passa Dois Group, southern Brazil: biostratigraphic and paleobiogeographic significance." Brazilian Journal of Geology 47, no. 2 (April 2017): 209–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-4889201720170013.
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ABSTRACT: Permian bivalves of the Paraná Basin evolved in a large inland sea, under conditions of extreme isolation and environmental stress. Although known since 1918, its evolutionary history is still obscure due to the incomplete and biased information on faunal composition and stratigraphic distribution of various assemblages. Hence, the description of the Tiaraju assemblage, the only known bivalve occurrence in the Passa Dois Group from the southernmost Brazil, adds new key information on the composition, biocorrelation and age of this unique molluscan fauna. Terraia falconeri, Cowperesia emerita, Holdhausiella elongata, and Terraia altissima were recorded and described. T. falconeri is the commonest species, followed by C. emerita, H. elongata and T. altissima. The faunule is mainly composed by Terrainae, lacking Pinzonellinae. Assemblage is, thus, poorly diversified, both regarding the faunal composition and guild structure (only infaunal, facultatively motile, unattached, suspension feeders present). Cowperesia emerita and T. altissima strongly indicate biocorrelation with assemblages of the Rio do Rasto and Gai-As formations, Brazil and Namibia, providing an age no younger than the mid-Permian (Wordian-Captianian). On the light of this information, the current geological map of the Tiaraju region, São Gabriel, and the local boundary between the Teresina and Rio do Rasto formations requires reevaluation.
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Unsworth, Richard K. F., Sammy De Grave, Jamaluddin Jompa, David J. Smith, and James J. Bell. "Faunal relationships with seagrass habitat structure: a case study using shrimp from the Indo-Pacific." Marine and Freshwater Research 58, no. 11 (2007): 1008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf07058.
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Caridean shrimp were used as a model group to investigate the effects of seagrass floral habitat complexity on Indo-Pacific fauna. Relationships between shrimp and seagrass habitat characteristics were explored using both multivariate and multiple linear regression modelling approaches. Epifaunal shrimp assemblages were sampled in the Wakatobi Marine National Park, Indonesia. Seagrass habitat complexity had a significant positive impact on shrimp abundance (F3,59 = 17.51, P < 0.001) and species richness (F3,59 = 10.88, P < 0.001), while significantly altering shrimp assemblage structure (ANOSIM global R = 0.397, P < 0.001). In contrast to studies from other bioregions and faunal groups, species diversity and evenness were inversely related to habitat complexity. Changes in shrimp abundance, diversity and assemblage structure with habitat complexity are considered to reflect changes in individual species habitat specialisation. High complexity habitats were dominated by habitat specialists, whereas low complexity seagrass had higher numbers of habitat generalists. Generalist species may be more adapted to the reduced food availability and increased predatory pressures associated with reduced habitat complexity. Although similar patterns were observed at all sites, inter-site differences in shrimp abundance were observed. This indicates that although the present study demonstrates the importance of small-scale changes in seagrass habitat complexity to faunal assemblages, other factors related to larger spatial-scales are also important.
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Van-Silva, Wilian, Andrei Guimarães Guedes, Priscila Lemes de Azevedo-Silva, Fernanda Francisca Gontijo, Rosana Silva Barbosa, Gustavo Ribeiro Aloísio, and Flávio César Gomes de Oliveira. "Herpetofauna, Espora Hydroelectric Power Plant, state of Goiás, Brazil." Check List 3, no. 4 (November 1, 2007): 338. http://dx.doi.org/10.15560/3.4.338.
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We provide a checklist of the herpetofaunal assemblage from Espora Hydroelectric Power Plant region (UHE Espora), southwestern of the state of Goiás, Brazil. Representatives of 32 amphibian and 71 reptile species were obtained during faunal monitoring and faunal rescue programs carried out in the study area. The obtained species list and distribution records are here discussed in an attempt to improve the still limited knowledge on Cerrado herpetofaunal assemblages.
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Barnes, R. S. K., and L. Claassens. "Do beds of subtidal estuarine seagrass constitute a refuge for macrobenthic biodiversity threatened intertidally?" Biodiversity and Conservation 29, no. 11-12 (July 22, 2020): 3227–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-020-02019-0.
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Abstract Biodiversity differentials between macrobenthic assemblages associated with adjacent intertidal and subtidal areas of a single seagrass system were investigated for the first time. Assemblage metrics of conservation relevance—faunal abundance and its patchiness, faunal richness, and beta diversity—were examined at four contrasting dwarf-eelgrass localities in the Knysna estuarine bay, part of South Africa's Garden Route National Park but a system whose intertidal areas are heavily impacted anthropogenically. Faunal assemblages were significantly different across all localities and between subtidal and intertidal levels at each locality although their taxonomic distinctness was effectively constant. Although, as would be expected, there were clear trends for increases in overall numbers of species towards the mouth at all levels, few generalities relating to the relative importance of the subtidal seagrass habitat were evident across the whole system—magnitude and direction of differentials were contingent on locality. Shore-height related differences in assemblage metrics were minor in the estuarine and lagoonal zones but major in the marine compartment, although the much greater subtidal faunal abundance there was largely consequent on the superabundance of a single species (the microgastropod Alaba pinnae), intertidal zones then displaying the greater species diversity due to greater equitability of species densities. Along its axial channel, the Knysna subtidal seagrass does not support richer versions of the intertidal polychaete-dominated assemblages fringing it; instead, it supports different and more patchily dispersed gastropod-dominated ones. At Knysna at least, the subtidal hardly constitutes a reservoir of the seagrass biodiversity present intertidally.
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Nakaya, Hideo. "Faunal turnover of the Miocene mammalian faunas of Sub-Saharan Africa and the middle Miocene paleoenvironmental change." Paleontological Society Special Publications 6 (1992): 218. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s2475262200007784.
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In evolutionary paleontology of terrestrial biotas, the Miocene is the most important age especially for evolution of hominids and mammalian faunas. The modern mammalian fauna appeared from the end of this age in Eurasia. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the assemblage of the late Miocene mammalian faunas was very poor, and these faunas were represented by only few faunas. Therefore, this incompleteness of the late Miocene East African faunas, it is very difficult to analyze faunal turnover of Sub-Saharan mammalian faunas and compare with Eurasian and Sub-Saharan faunas of this age.The paleontological contribution of the Japan and Kenya joint expedition to the Samburu Hills, northern Kenya covered this gap of mammalian evolution in Sub-Saharan Africa.In this work, the Miocene mammalian faunas in Sub-Saharan Africa is examined the half-life (Kurtén 1959, 1972, 1988) of each faunal assemblages (sets).Assemblage of the mammalian faunas from early Miocene was comparatively stable and had long half life in Sub-Saharan Africa on the basis of the results of this work.However, mammalian assemblage changed drastically at the middle Miocene (Astaracian) in Sub-Saharan Africa.A great number of early to middle Miocene mammalian taxa were extinct and the modern mammalian taxa appeared in this period. The half life of middle and late Miocene mammalian faunas is shortened compared with the early Miocene faunas in the East Africa. This geological event of faunal turnover occurred by the immigration and divergence of open land taxa.It is evident that the rise of open land taxa is related to the environmental change for the plateau phonolite and basalt volcanism in the middle Miocene East Africa (Pickford 1981) and the worldwide warm and arid event (savannitisation) of continental temperate zone in the middle to late Miocene (Liu 1988). In the middle Miocene (16 Ma) Pacific region, it has been proposed that the tropical event is recognized from shallow marine faunas of the Southwestern Japan (Tsuchi 1986). African and Eurasian land connection was also established before the middle Miocene (16 Ma±) (Bernor et al. 1987).The Astaracian faunal turnover in Sub-Saharan Africa is considered to be caused by immigration and diversity of open country mammalian taxa and that was related to the worldwide middle Miocene warm event and the plateau volcanism in middle Miocene East Africa. Furthermore, the Pleistocene and modern taxa and their direct ancestors of Sub-Saharan Africa appeared from the late Miocene faunas of East Africa. It has been made clear that the Namurungule Fauna is the forerunner of the modern Sub-Saharan mammalian fauna of savanna environments.As mentioned before, the Hominid Fossil was found from the Namurungule Formation (late Miocene) of northern Kenya. The savannitisation in the Sub-Saharan Africa began in middle Miocene. The origin of hominid bipedalism seems to be closely related to the environmental change from forest to open land (Foley 1984). Human evolution in East Africa is accelerated by the savannitisation of Sub-Saharan Africa which commenced earlier than that of Eurasia and continued throughout the Neogene.
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Flynn, Lawrence J., Richard H. Tedford, and Qiu Zhanxiang. "Enrichment and stability in the Pliocene mammalian fauna of North China." Paleobiology 17, no. 3 (1991): 246–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0094837300010599.
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The Late Neogene vertebrate fossil record from Yushe Basin presents multiple, superposed assemblages from a single area, spanning roughly the interval of 6–2 Ma. Both large and small mammals show peak species richness in the middle Pliocene but indicate relative faunal stability throughout the Pliocene. Large mammals show turnover, especially extinction, around 5 and 2.5 Ma. Small mammals indicate change (over half of the species and several genera), as well as turnover at the species level, between 4 and 3.4 Ma. The loosely controlled dating of these events does not disprove hypothetical correlation with events in North America and with global climatic shifts. Elements that lack Yushe antecedents, some being long-distance dispersers, appear throughout the section, but with little effect on the resident assemblage. First records of well-documented immigrants (from North America, Europe, Africa, southern Asia, or high latitudes) generally do not coincide with ecomorph extinctions. Early Pliocene exchange between Asia and North America appears to have been balanced in both directions and involved a small proportion of the fauna. Immigration probably was opportunistic and contributed to faunal enrichment. We interpret the Yushe Pliocene mammalian assemblages as representing a fauna that was stable from ca. 5 to 2.5 Ma and changed mainly by additions and congeneric species substitutions.
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Turvey, Samuel T., Jennifer J. Crees, James Hansford, Timothy E. Jeffree, Nick Crumpton, Iwan Kurniawan, Erick Setiyabudi, et al. "Quaternary vertebrate faunas from Sumba, Indonesia: implications for Wallacean biogeography and evolution." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 284, no. 1861 (August 30, 2017): 20171278. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1278.
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Historical patterns of diversity, biogeography and faunal turnover remain poorly understood for Wallacea, the biologically and geologically complex island region between the Asian and Australian continental shelves. A distinctive Quaternary vertebrate fauna containing the small-bodied hominin Homo floresiensis , pygmy Stegodon proboscideans, varanids and giant murids has been described from Flores, but Quaternary faunas are poorly known from most other Lesser Sunda Islands. We report the discovery of extensive new fossil vertebrate collections from Pleistocene and Holocene deposits on Sumba, a large Wallacean island situated less than 50 km south of Flores. A fossil assemblage recovered from a Pleistocene deposit at Lewapaku in the interior highlands of Sumba, which may be close to 1 million years old, contains a series of skeletal elements of a very small Stegodon referable to S. sumbaensis , a tooth attributable to Varanus komodoensis , and fragmentary remains of unidentified giant murids. Holocene cave deposits at Mahaniwa dated to approximately 2000–3500 BP yielded extensive material of two new genera of endemic large-bodied murids, as well as fossils of an extinct frugivorous varanid. This new baseline for reconstructing Wallacean faunal histories reveals that Sumba's Quaternary vertebrate fauna, although phylogenetically distinctive, was comparable in diversity and composition to the Quaternary fauna of Flores, suggesting that similar assemblages may have characterized Quaternary terrestrial ecosystems on many or all of the larger Lesser Sunda Islands.
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Morley, S. A., A. E. Bates, M. Lamare, J. Richard, K. D. Nguyen, J. Brown, and L. S. Peck. "Rates of warming and the global sensitivity of shallow water marine invertebrates to elevated temperature." Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 96, no. 1 (March 11, 2014): 159–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315414000307.
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Assessing the sensitivity of ectotherms to variability in their environment is a key challenge, especially in the face of rapid warming of the Earth's surface. Comparing the upper temperature limits of species from different regions, at different rates of warming, has recently been developed as a method to estimate the long term sensitivity of shallow marine fauna. This paper presents the first preliminary data from four tropical Ascension Island, five temperate New Zealand and six Antarctic McMurdo Sound species. The slopes and intercepts of these three assemblages fitted within the overall pattern for previously measured assemblages from high temperature tolerance in tropical fauna and a shallow slope, to low temperature tolerance and a steep slope in Antarctic fauna. Despite the tropical oceanic Ascension Island being subject to upwelling events, the fit of the intercept and slope within the overall assemblage pattern suggests that the upwelling is sufficiently predictable for the fauna to have evolved the plasticity to respond. This contrasts with previously analysed species from the Peruvian upwelling region, which had a steeper slope than other temperate fauna. The speed and capacity of faunal assemblages to acclimatize their physiology is likely to determine the shape of the rates of warming relationship, and will be a key mechanism underpinning vulnerability to climate warming.
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Zalasiewicz, J. A., A. W. A. Rushton, and A. W. Owen. "Late Caradoc graptolitic faunal gradients across the Iapetus Ocean." Geological Magazine 132, no. 5 (September 1995): 611–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756800021269.
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AbstractLate Caradoc graptolite assemblages across the Iapetus Ocean in Wales and Scotland became progressively more disparate despite the narrowing of the ocean. We compare faunal distributions in continuous sections from opposite sides of Iapetus, at Whitland in South Wales and Hartfell Score in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. A comprehensive graptolite range-chart is given for each. The graptolite assemblages from the clingani Biozone are subdivided into a lower Ensigraptus caudatus Subzone and upper Dicellograptus morrisi Subzone at both localities, though the faunas differ in detail. Higher in the sequence, the distinctive Scottish linearis Biozone fauna is not recognizable at Whitland, its presumed equivalent being a fauna dominated by variable morphotypes of the genus Normalograptus. This suggests that environmental gradients (depth and/or temperature) were changing more rapidly than the geography. Significantly, the subsequent inception of limestone deposition at Whitland was approximately contemporaneous with widespread replacement of black mudstones by oxic, bioturbated sediments elsewhere in the Welsh Basin and in Scotland. This was possibly a response to an early phase of cooling prior to the end-Ordovician glaciation. In Wales the claimed hiatus at the Caradoc-Ashgill boundary may rather reflect biofacies variation.
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BROWN, GARETT M. "LITHOLOGICAL AND PALEOCOMMUNITY VARIATION ON A MISSISSIPPIAN (TOURNAISIAN) CARBONATE RAMP, MONTANA, USA." PALAIOS 36, no. 3 (March 30, 2021): 95–114. http://dx.doi.org/10.2110/palo.2020.050.
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ABSTRACT The ecological structure of ancient marine communities is impacted by the environmental gradients controlling assemblage compositions and the heterogeneous distribution of sediment types. Closely spaced, replicate sampling of fauna has been suggested to mitigate the effects of such heterogeneity and improve gradient analyses, but this technique has rarely been combined with similar sampling of lithologic data. This study analyses lithological and faunal data to determine the environmental gradients controlling the composition of Mississippian fossil assemblages of the lower Madison Group in Montana. Eighty-one lithological and faunal samples were collected from four stratigraphic columns in Montana, which represent the deep-subtidal, foreshoal, and ooid-shoal depositional environments within one third-order depositional sequence. Cluster analysis identifies three distinct lithological associations across all depositional environments—crinoid-dominated carbonates, peloidal-crinoidal carbonates, and micritic-crinoidal carbonates. Cluster analysis and nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) identifies a highly diverse brachiopod biofacies and a solitary coral-dominated biofacies along an onshore-offshore gradient. Carbonate point count data and orientation of solitary corals indicate that substrate and wave energy are two potential variables that covary with the onshore-offshore gradient. Overlaying lithological information on the NMS indicates a secondary gradient reflecting oxygen that is expressed by increasing bioturbation and gradation from brown to dark gray carbonates to medium-light gray carbonates. Taken together, these findings demonstrates how combining closely spaced, replicate sampling of lithologic and faunal data enhances multivariate analyses by uncovering underlying environmental gradients that control the variation in fossil assemblages.
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Sheehan, Michael S. "Dietary Responses to Mid-Holocene Climatic Change." North American Archaeologist 23, no. 2 (April 2002): 117–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/a5ad-ddk7-04ut-twur.
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Faunal assemblages from Paleoindian, Early Archaic, and Middle Archaic sites are compared to evaluate changes in diet related to hot and dry Altithermal conditions in the North American Great Plains. Successful completion of this comparison requires that site function and seasonality be controlled. These criteria place serious restrictions on the number of site assemblages suitable for analysis, consequently the site sample is relatively limited. Notwithstanding the limited sample, provocative results are obtained. Preliminary statistical analysis suggests significant changes in diet breadth associated with increased emphasis on medium-sized terrestrial fauna and nonmammalian fauna such as fish, amphibians, and birds during the Altithermal. Although these results are based on a limited sample of sites, and must therefore be regarded as preliminary, they do suggest that hunter-gatherer responses to major climatic shifts may be accomplished by minor adjustments in faunal resource use.
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Landing, Ed, Christopher R. Barnes, and Robert K. Stevens. "Tempo of earliest Ordovician graptolite faunal succession: conodont-based correlations from the Tremadocian of Quebec." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 23, no. 12 (December 1, 1986): 1928–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e86-180.
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Successive Tremadocian planktic dendroid graptolite assemblages from continental slope sequences in Quebec can be correlated with North American platform biozonations on the basis of conodonts. Anisograptid-bearing (Assemblage 2), middle Tremadocian "Matane faunas" are associated with Early Ordovician Rossodus manitouensis Zone (new designation) conodonts. Younger middle Tremadocian faunas with adelograptids (Assemblage 3) are no younger than the Rossodus manitouensis Zone. Key dendroid evolutionary–immigration events take place within the lower conodont Fauna B interval. Rooted dendroids near Cap des Rosiers, Quebec, and in eastern New York State occur with lower Fauna B conodonts and the trilobites Pareuloma and Borthaspidella. However, the earliest Tremadocian (and earliest Ordovician) dendroid immigration event, represented by the local lowest occurrence of faunas with Dictyonema flabelliforme s.l. at localities in western Newfoundland, eastern New York State, Norway, and eastern China, also lies within the lower Fauna B interval. Finally, the lowest occurrence of key Assemblage 2 dendroid taxa falls within the lower Fauna B interval at the latter localities.The Rossodus manitouensis Zone is proposed as a new designation for a biostratigraphic unit that is appropriate for North American marginal and open shelf sequences. This zone is approximately equivalent to the "Loxodus bransoni Interval" of other authors and is characterized by Fauna C conodonts. Newly described taxa include Rossodus? highgatensis n. sp., Scolopodus? praecornuformis n. sp., and Variabiloconus n. gen.
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van Kolfschoten, Th. "The Eemian mammal fauna of central Europe." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 79, no. 2-3 (August 2000): 269–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600021752.
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AbstractThe knowledge of the Eemian fauna of central Europe is based on the fossil record from a number of sites located in the eastern part of Germany. The faunas with different deer species as well as Sus scrofa, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis and Glis glis indicate a forested environment alternating during the climatic optimum of the Eemian s.s. with areas with a more open environment inhabited by species such as Cricetus cricetus, Equus sp. (or Equus taubachensis), Equus hydruntinus and Stephanorhinus hemitoechus. Characteristic for the Rhine valley fauna are Hippopotamus amphibius and the water buffalo (Bubalus murrensis); both species are absent in the eastern German faunas with an Eemian age.Taking into account the short period of time covered by the Eemian s.s., the amount of data on the Eemian mammalian fauna is remarkably large. There is, however, still an ongoing debate on whether the stratigraphical position of a number of faunas are of Eemian or ‘intra-Saalian’ age. Furthermore, there are faunal assemblages or stratigraphically isolated finds referred to the Eemian without indisputable evidence. This is particularly the case in the Rhine valley, where most of the so-called Eemian fossils come from dredged assemblages. The picture of the evolution of the Eemian fauna and its geographical variation is consequently still incomplete.
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Babazadeh, Seyed Ahmad, and Patrick De Wever. "Radiolarian Cretaceous age of Soulabest radiolarites in ophiolite suite of eastern Iran." Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 175, no. 2 (March 1, 2004): 121–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/175.2.121.
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Abstract The ophiolite-flysch range (accretionary prism) of the Sistan suture zone from eastern Iran includes several intensely deformed tectonic units, some of which consist of volcaniclastic rocks, volcanic rocks, siliceous pelagic sediments (cherts and radiolarites) and calcareous rocks (deep marine, platform), whereas others are represented by terrigenous turbidites. The Soulabest radiolarites are located in the Ratuk complex of the Tirrul’s subdivision [Tirrul et al. , 1983], or in the ophiolite suite of the Gazik province. The local biostratigraphy of this region is based on two faunal assemblages. Faunal assemblage I is dated early Aptian, faunal assemblage II is attributed to middle-late Albian. The most abundant fauna is found in the middle-late Albian. The timing of the oceanic opening in eastern Iran remained questionable until now. The study of the radiolarites of the Soulabest area provides new data for dating the primary opening between two microcontinents : the Lut and Afghan blocks. It is proposed that the oceanic opening of the two blocks occurred prior to the early Aptian. In previous reports, the age of opening was attributed to Upper Cretaceous. All reported Radiolaria are found in red radiolarites and green-red argillaceous cherts. This formation is unconformably overlain by Maastrichtian conglomerates. It indicates that the closure of the basin occurred in Maastrichtian age.
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Thompson, Scott A., Graham G. Thompson, and Philip C. Withers. "Influence of pit-trap type on the interpretation of fauna diversity." Wildlife Research 32, no. 2 (2005): 131. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr03117.
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We compare bias in the interpretation of sampled reptile and mammal assemblages caught using 20-L PVC buckets and PVC pipes (150 mm by 600 mm deep) when used as pit-traps. We report on 16 632 pipe- and 16 632 bucket-nights of pit-trap data collected over 11 survey periods spread over 2.5 years around Ora Banda in Western Australia. Buckets caught more reptiles and more of the common ‘small’ and ‘medium’-sized reptiles, whereas pipes caught more mammals and the larger of the small trappable mammals. The trappability of some families of reptiles and some mammal species differs between buckets and pipes. We conclude that different pit-trap types provide a bias in the interpretation of the sampled fauna assemblage. Differences in the interpretation of vertebrate faunal diversity were accentuated by low trapping effort but attenuated by high trapping effort. We recommend that both buckets and pipes be employed as pit-traps during fauna surveys (as well as alternatives such as funnel traps) to more fully document fauna assemblages being surveyed.
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Savage, Norman M. "Late Devonian (Frasnian and Famennian) conodonts from the Wadleigh Limestone, southeastern Alaska." Journal of Paleontology 66, no. 2 (March 1992): 277–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022336000033795.
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Conodont faunas from the upper part of the Wadleigh Limestone, Alexander terrane, southeastern Alaska, are of Frasnian to early Famennian age and include the new taxa Polygnathus aspelundi nanus n. subsp., Polygnathus decorosus dutroi n. subsp., Polygnathus elegantulus sparus n. subsp., Polygnathus gracilis n. subsp. A, Polygnathus n. sp. A, Palmatolepis subrecta youngquisti n. subsp., and Icriodus subterminus uyenoi n. subsp. Four distinct age-determined faunal assemblages are recognized. The lowest is assigned to the Lower Palmatolepis rhenana Zone (the chronozones of Ziegler and Sandberg, 1990, are treated herein as time-rock equivalent assemblage zones). The next is exposed on three small islands just south of Wadleigh Island and is correlated with part of the Lower to Upper Palmatolepis rhenana Zones. The third assemblage, on the eastern side of Wadleigh Island from close to the top of the section, is correlated with part of the Palmatolepis linguiformis Zone. Nearby and overlying this is the fourth assemblage, which is correlated with part of the Lower Palmatolepis triangularis Zone and thus appears to be within the lower Famennian. These Wadleigh Limestone conodont faunas have affinities with faunas from equivalent horizons of the cratonic regions of the Northwest Territories and Alberta in Western Canada and to other faunas globally. The more provincial conodont taxa lend weak but positive support to brachiopod faunal evidence that places the Alexander terrane close to the North American craton during the Late Devonian.
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Ringvold, Halldis, John-Arvid Grytnes, and Gro I. van der Meeren. "Diver-operated suction sampling in Norwegian cobble grounds: technique and associated fauna." Crustaceana 88, no. 2 (2015): 184–202. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15685403-00003406.
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Marine cobble habitats in shallow waters are rich in faunal assemblages and known settling grounds for valuable fishery resources such as lobsters and crabs. Sampling these grounds is challenging as traditional techniques do not efficiently collect fast-moving benthic invertebrates. Typically, fast moving crustaceans are not sampled according to actual densities. This study used airlift suction sampling, pioneered in North America, to quantify benthic faunal assemblages in cobble grounds across 68 sampling locations in south-western Norway. In total, 72 species of benthic invertebrates (5276 individual specimens) were identified, with an overall sampling efficiency of 76.4%. Polychaeta and decapod crustaceans dominated the samples, with species diversity (Shannon Index, ) highest in Location 3. Cluster and Ordination analyses were further used to relate assemblages to a number of selected variables. Overall, the study highlights that suction sampling provides a low-cost and efficient method for quantifying mobile benthic fauna in structurally complex marine habitats (i.e., cobble).
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Knudsen, Karen Luise. "Foraminifera in Late Elsterian-Holsteinian deposits of the Tornskov area in South Jutland, Denmark." Danmarks Geologiske Undersøgelse Serie B 10 (June 1, 1987): 7–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.34194/serieb.v10.7076.
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Foraminiferal faunas from marine Late Elsterian and Holsteinian deposits in the Tornskov borehole have been investigated. The faunal succession is correlated with the pollen zones of the same boring, and the assemblages are compared with Late Elsterian and Holsteinian faunas described from adjacent areas. Arctic foraminiferal faunas at the base of the marine sequence at Tornskov indicate that a marine transgression occurred prior to the establishment of full interglacial conditions, i.e. in the Late Elsterian. Marine sedimentation continued during much of the Holsteinian Interglacial. The assemblages here indicate boreal, mainly sublittoral conditions and relatively open access to the North Sea. Evidence for withdrawal of the Holsteinian sea from the area is not recorded in the faunas at Tornskov, the uppermost part of the marine sequence having probably been removed by subsequent glacial erosion. The general trend for corresponding deposits over the whole area of SW Denmark and N. Germany is that the regression took place before any indication of climatic deterioration is seen in either the fauna or the flora.
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Le Loeuff, Jean, Eric Buffetaut, and Michel Martin. "The last stages of dinosaur faunal history in Europe: a succession of Maastrichtian dinosaur assemblages from the Corbières (southern France)." Geological Magazine 131, no. 5 (September 1994): 625–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756800012413.
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AbstractWe report the discovery of a dinosaur assemblage in the non-marine Late Maastrichtian of the Corbieres region of southern France; this allows the reconstruction of the succession of dinosaur faunas during the Maastrichtian in western Europe. An Early Maastrichtian fauna dominated by titanosaurid sauropods was replaced by a Late Maastrichtian assemblage dominated by hadrosaurs. This important faunal replacement seems to coincide with environmental changes (documented by sedimentological and palynological evidence) which have been linked to a marine regression during the Maastrichtian. This suggests that sea-level changes influenced the evolution of dinosaur faunas in Europe during the Late Cretaceous, but were not sufficient to cause the final extinction of dinosaurs, for which other causes must be sought.
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Potts, Richard. "Temporal span of bone accumulations at Olduvai Gorge and implications for early hominid foraging behavior." Paleobiology 12, no. 1 (1986): 25–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0094837300002955.
Full textAbstract:
Bones of mammals exhibit progressive stages of weathering during their time of subaerial exposure. Consequently, the study of bone weathering in fossil assemblages may help to assess the period represented by an accumulation of bones. Stages of bone decomposition due to subaerial weathering have been identified in assemblages of fossil macromammals from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. A modern bone assemblage collected by spotted hyenas is used to devise a method for recognizing attritional accumulations of bones from weathering characteristics. This method, which involves study of long bone diaphyses, is applied to Plio-Pleistocene faunal assemblages from Olduvai, 1.70–1.85 ma old. Previous work indicates that early hominids had an important role in the collection of fauna at five of the six sites studied. It is shown that animal bones were accumulated at each site over a period of probably 5–10 yr or more. The length of this period, along with other taphonomic evidence, suggests that the processes of bone aggregation at these sites differed from those at the short-term campsites of modern, tropical hunter-gatherers.
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Sessa, Jocelyn A., Pedro M. Callapez, Pedro A. Dinis, and Austin J. W. Hendy. "Paleoenvironmental and paleobiogeographical implications of a middle Pleistocene mollusc assemblage from the marine terraces of Baía Das Pipas, southwest Angola." Journal of Paleontology 87, no. 6 (November 2013): 1016–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/12-119.
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Quaternary raised marine terraces containing the remains of diverse, shallow water marine invertebrate faunas are widespread across the coast of Angola. These deposits and faunas have not been studied in the same detail as contemporaneous features in northwest and southernmost Africa. We analyzed the fossil assemblages and sedimentology of two closely spaced middle Pleistocene marine terrace deposits in Baía das Pipas, southwest Angola. This revealed 46 gastropod and 29 bivalve species, along with scleractinian corals, encrusting bryozoans, polychaete tubes, barnacles, and echinoids. The fauna is characteristic of intertidal and nearshore rocky substrates and sandy soft-bottom habitats. Sedimentological analysis is consistent with faunal data and indicates an upper shoreface paleoenvironment along a gravel coast. This diverse fauna stands out as a rare example of a marine Pleistocene assemblage from over 6,000 km of the West African coast. The assemblage is dominated by extant tropical West African molluscs, including species from the “Senegalese fauna” that colonized northern Africa and beyond during Pleistocene interstadials. Additionally, as along the modern coast of the Namibe Desert, the influence of the cool-water Benguela Current is apparent in the paleofauna by the occurrence of a few temperate species. The distribution and thermal tolerances of extant species identified in the Pipas fauna indicate that this region experienced similar climatic and oceanographic conditions as that of the present during this interstadial. Seasonal temperature varied between ∼20 and 28°C and resulted from upwelling in this tropical setting.
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Brett, Carlton E., Keith B. Miller, and Gordon C. Baird. "A Temporal Hierarchy of Paleoecologic Processes Within a Middle Devonian Epeiric Sea." Paleontological Society Special Publications 5 (1990): 178–209. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s2475262200005505.
Full textAbstract:
Among the most intriguing and significant aspects of the marine stratigraphic record are patterns of temporal change in fossil assemblages and paleocommunities. Understanding the stratigraphic patterns and the correct temporal scale of such faunal change is crucial to interpreting the underlying processes involved. Inattention to the temporal scale at which paleontological data are collected, and at which faunal change is observed, often results in the use of entirely inappropriate explanatory models. In many cases modern ecological theories have been misapplied to the fossil record because problems of scale were not adequately considered. The term “community” itself has been applied to such a wide range of fossil accumulations that it has ceased to have any consistent paleoecologic meaning (see discussion in Järvinen et al.,1986). For this reason, we prefer to use the term “assemblage” for time-averaged accumulations of fossils, and restrict “community” to only those organisms which actually lived together in the same space and time (i.e., a biocoenosis). Therefore, faunal assemblages, even when untransported, are the preserved amalgamated record of many successive communities within which short-term (10 – 100 years) changes may or may not be resolvable. Recurrent, compositionally similar assemblages, believed to have occupied generally similar benthic environments, are then grouped into biofacies which can be seen to intergrade and migrate through time.
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Potts, Richard, and Alan Deino. "Mid-Pleistocene Change in Large Mammal Faunas of East Africa." Quaternary Research 43, no. 1 (January 1995): 106–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/qres.1995.1010.
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AbstractSingle-crystal 40Ar/39Ar age estimates of 392,000 ± 4000 to 330,000 ± 6000 yr from Lainyamok, a middle Pleistocene fossil locality in the southern Kenya rift, document the oldest evidence from sub-Saharan Africa of a diverse, large mammal fauna consisting entirely of extant species. The inferred age of this fauna implies an upper limit for extinction of species that characterize well-calibrated, mid-Pleistocene fossil assemblages in East Africa. For its age and species richness, the Lainyamok fauna is surprising for its lack of extinct forms (e.g., the bovine Pelorovis) well documented in later faunal assemblages of East and South Africa. Definitive presence of the South African blesbok (Damaliscus dorcas) is also unexpected, especially as this alcelaphine bovid is the dominant large mammal in the Lainyamok fauna. These age estimates and the faunal composition at Lainyamok indicate that geographic ranges and taxonomic associations of extant largebodied mammals were susceptible to wide fluctuations in sub-Saharan Africa over the past 330,000 yr. This inference is consistent with the hypothesis of nonanalogue, or ephemeral, biotas believed to characterize late Quaternary ecosystems of northern continents.
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Osborn, Jo. "A Bayesian Approach to Andean Faunal Assemblages." Latin American Antiquity 30, no. 2 (June 2019): 354–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/laq.2019.21.
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Faunal assemblages offer rich data for exploring domestication, subsistence, ritual practice, and political economy. Issues of equifinality, however, frequently complicate interpretations because different agents and processes may create similar archaeological signatures. Analysts are often forced to make interpretations based on qualitative observations, which can be difficult to justify or replicate. I present an alternative method for classifying Andean assemblages by using ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and archaeological data to construct a Bayesian network model. The model is assessed using specifically constructed test datasets and archaeological case studies. Bayesian models can lead to explicit and quantifiable probabilistic interpretations of faunal assemblages.
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Shott, Michael J. "The Quantification Problem in Stone-Tool Assemblages." American Antiquity 65, no. 4 (October 2000): 725–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2694424.
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How many tools does a lithic assemblage contain? The question is not as banal as it may seem, because tools were used as wholes but many are found broken. Pottery and faunal analysts have grappled with the problems of counting original wholes from mixed sets of whole and broken objects; lithic analysts lag behind. Assemblage size can change greatly depending on whether we count or ignore tool fragments. To systematize treatment of broken tools, I apply Orton’s pottery quantification method to several lithic assemblages and compare it to Portnoy’s MNT and raw counts. Methods do not agree in all cases, demonstrating that how we count affects our results. Until we know more, both methods should be used to quantify lithic assemblages.
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Kelaher, B. P., M. G. Chapman, and A. J. Underwood. "Spatial patterns of diverse macrofaunal assemblages in coralline turf and their associations with environmental variables." Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 81, no. 6 (December 2001): 917–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315401004842.
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Mats of articulated coralline algal turf are common on many rocky intertidal shores. The dense fronds provide a habitat for extremely diverse and abundant macrofaunal assemblages. Despite a large contribution to faunal biodiversity of rocky shores, little has been published about these assemblages. This study describes patterns of distribution and abundance of macrofauna in coralline turf on rocky shores around Sydney. In addition, the potential of environmental variables (sediment, epiphytes, length and density of coralline fronds) for determining these patterns was also investigated. Relatively consistent differences were found between macrofauna in low- and mid-shore areas at all times of sampling and on all shores. Although there was some variation among shores, there was generally significant variation in macrofauna between sites separated by tens of metres. Generally, a relatively small number of taxa were responsible for the great majority of dissimilarity between assemblages. Apart for the small bivalve Lasaea australis, however, these taxa varied between heights on the shore, among times of sampling and among shores. These data illustrate the important contribution that coralline turf has for biodiversity of faunal assemblages on rocky shores around Sydney. They also provide a basis for investigating biological processes and physical factors responsible for structuring patterns of biodiversity of macrofaunal assemblage in coralline turf.
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Jarzembowski, Edmund. "Atlas of animals from the Late Westphalian of Writhlington, United Kingdom." Geologica Balcanica 34, no. 1-2 (June 30, 2004): 47–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.52321/geolbalc.34.1-2.47.
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Representative animals from the Writhlington assemblages are collectively illustrated for the first time with notes on palaeoecology, association and distribution. They are from a comparatively well sampled, terrestrial-fresh water fauna of nematodes, bivalvias, arthropods and vertebrates from the Upper Westphalian D of the UK. The Writhlington fauna provides a baseline for comparative faunal work in the Variskan Foreland.
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RAUSCH, LEA, MARIUS STOICA, and SERGEI LAZAREV. "A LATE MIOCENE – EARLY PLIOCENE PARATETHYAN TYPE OSTRACOD FAUNA FROM THE DENIZLI BASIN (SW ANATOLIA) AND ITS PALAEOGEOGRAPHIC IMPLICATIONS." Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae, no. 16 (2) (April 22, 2020): 3–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.35463/j.apr.2020.02.01.
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The upper Miocene – lower Pliocene sedimentary succession of the Denizli Basin (SW Anatolia) displays a unique record of undisturbed stratigraphy and provides an excellent opportunity to study long-term palaeoecological changes. This paper documents the ostracod assemblages of two sections of the Neogene Kolankaya Formation, resulting in the following taxonomic, palaeobiogeographic and ecological interpretations. The ostracod assemblages from the two sections consist of a mixture of oligohaline to mesohaline tolerant taxa but expose fundamental differences in their composition. This is reflected by the fact that out of 32 determined species, both sections only have 3 in common. In the stratigraphic older succession, the diverse ostracod fauna resembles taxa known from the Paratethys. Faunal relations to the brackish lake habitats of the Euxinic and Pannonian basins are apparent and the palaeobiogeographic significance of the fauna is discussed. The ostracod association of the younger section indicates a low brackish water habitat with fluctuating salinities, most likely in the oligohaline range. The ostracod assemblage of the Kolankaya Formation only permits a broad age assignment to the late Miocene – early Pliocene.
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Jass, Christopher N., James A. Burns, and Peter J. Milot. "Description of fossil muskoxen and relative abundance of Pleistocene megafauna in central Alberta." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 48, no. 5 (May 2011): 793–800. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e10-096.
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Significant work has gone into describing Ice Age faunas from Alberta, but relatively little work has been dedicated to understanding the actual structure of Quaternary faunal assemblages in the province. Development of such a data set is necessary to fully understand differences in faunal assemblages that existed before and after the last glacial maximum, and may eventually provide an important historical perspective for understanding the impact of large-scale ecosystem disturbance. Muskoxen fossils from central Alberta were examined to differentiate specimens of Bootherium and Ovibos . Those remains, along with other fossils of Pleistocene megafauna collected from gravel deposits near Edmonton, were used to examine patterns of relative abundance from both pre- and postglacial maximum time periods. Relative abundance for genera of Pleistocene megafauna was calculated using the number of individual specimens (NISP) from 11 individual localities (i.e., gravel pits) in central Alberta. Preglacial localities with statistically significant numbers of specimens (n ≥ 30) are dominated by horse ( Equus ). Mammoth ( Mammuthus ) and bison ( Bison ) are common, but other megafauna, such as Jefferson’s Ground Sloth ( Megalonyx jeffersoni ) and Yesterday’s Camel ( Camelops hesternus ), are comparatively rare. Current data for the postglacial fauna indicate a shift in which Bison becomes the most abundant large herbivore on the landscape, a pattern observed in other parts of North America.
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Kaminski, Michael A., Wolfgang Kuhnt, and Jon D. Radley. "Palaeocene–Eocene deep water agglutinated foraminifera from the Numidian Flysch (Rif, Northern Morocco): their significance for the palaeoceanography of the Gibraltar gateway." Journal of Micropalaeontology 15, no. 1 (April 1, 1996): 1–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/jm.15.1.1.
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Abstract. A lower bathyal to abyssal agglutinated foraminiferal fauna (over 78 taxa belonging to 31 genera) is documented from Palaeocene–Eocene deep-water sediments of the Numidian Flysch (Talaa Lakrah Unit) in Northern Morocco. The sample locality is adjacent to the Strait of Gibraltar, which comprised an oceanic ‘gateway’ between the Tethys Ocean and the North Atlantic during the Palaeogene. The chronostratigraphy of the section is based upon long-distance comparisons with the stratigraphic ranges of identified species in the North Atlantic region and the Polish Carpathians. Although no major evolutionary turnover among deep-water agglutinated foraminifera (DWAF) is observed across the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary, a change from Palaeocene Aschemocella- and Trochamminoides-dominated assemblages to an early Eocene Glomospira assemblage is recognized. This Glomospira biofacies occurs throughout the North Atlantic and western Tethys and may indicate lowered productivity and widespread oxygenated deep-water conditions during the early Eocene greenhouse conditions. A change to an overlying Reticulophragmium amplectens biofacies in green claystones reflects renewed higher productivity. Taxonomic affinities and the succession of benthic foraminiferal assemblages from the Gibraltar gateway display greater affinities to Tethyan assemblages than North Atlantic assemblages. This is interpreted as faunal evidence for a late Palaeocene to early Eocene equivalent of ‘Mediterranean outflow water’, flowing from the western Tethys into the Atlantic.
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SANJAYAN, M., LEAH H. SAMBERG, TIMOTHY BOUCHER, and JESSE NEWBY. "Intact Faunal Assemblages in the Modern Era." Conservation Biology 26, no. 4 (June 28, 2012): 724–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01881.x.
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Thompson, Jessica C., Nawa Sugiyama, and Gary S. Morgan. "Taphonomic Analysis of the Mammalian Fauna from Sandia Cave, New Mexico, and the “Sandia Man” Controversy." American Antiquity 73, no. 2 (April 2008): 337–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s000273160004230x.
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Sandia Cave in New Mexico was excavated in the late 1930s by Frank Hibben, who described a unique type of chipped stone artifact-the “Sandia point”-in association with a faunal assemblage that included extinct Pleistocene species. The site was interpreted as a late Pleistocene Paleoindian hunting station, making it the earliest human occupation known in America at the time. Despite the pivotal role the faunal assemblage has played in interpretations of the site, there was never a confirmed behavioral association between the artifacts and the fossils. A subsequent series of controversies about the age of the site and the integrity of the stratigraphy has since pushed Sandia Cave into obscurity. Results from a recent taphonomic study of the large and small mammal assemblages from the original excavations are reported here. These show that the majority of the fauna were accumulated by nonhuman agents (carnivores, raptors, and rodents), but that a small proportion of large mammal fragments retain human modification. The three major points of controversy are discussed in light of these and other findings, and it is shown that Sandia Cave remains an important datapoint in archaeological, paleontological, and paleoecological studies of the region.
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Callomon, John H. "The ammonite succession in the Middle Jurassic of East Greenland." Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark 40 (June 3, 1993): 83–113. http://dx.doi.org/10.37570/bgsd-1994-40-03.
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The ammonite sequence in the Middle Jurassic of central East Greenland is the most complete and detailed known in the Arctic so far, and has become a standard of reference for the whole of the Bo real Faunal Province. It is made up of some 37 distinguishable assemblages that characterize a time-ordered succession of discrete faunal horizons. This succession has been pieced together from over 80 recorded sections in Jameson Land lying between Scoresby Sund and Kong Oscars Fjord (70-72°N). It forms the biostratigraphic basis for the regional chronostratigraphy. The faunal assemblages are listed and described by reference to published illustrations in the literature. Faunas 1-23 are of pre-Callovian age and have no elements in common with their contemporaries in the classical regions of Europe. They still cannot be correlated with the European standard pre-Callovian chronozonations. Most of them must be of Bathonian age, although the earliest of them could well be, and probably are, even still Upper Bajocian. The Bathonian-Callovian boundary most probably lies somewhere in faunas 24-26, which closely resemble those of the keppleri horizon at the base of the Callovian. Faunas 27-35 span the rest of th Lower Callovian, while faunas 36 and 37 are the only evidence of Middle and Upper Callovian. The ammonites from Jameson Land previously described by Spath (I 932) are revised and assigned to their correct horizons. Of 11 new species, only one is formally named: Kepp/erites vardekloeftensis sp. nov., of latest Bathonian age.
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Kaiser, M. J., P. J. Armstrong, P. J. Dare, and R. P. Flatt. "Benthic Communities Associated With a Heavily Fished Scallop Ground in the English Channel." Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 78, no. 4 (November 1998): 1045–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315400044313.
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A survey of benthic communities found in a heavily fished scallop ground was undertaken in July 1993. Two main faunal assemblages were identified from samples obtained with fine-meshed scallop dredges, which were grouped either in gravelly sand sediments or sandy sediment, which was generally furthest offshore in deeper water. A third assemblage was found in either sandy or gravelly muddy sand sediments. The highest abundance of small and large size-classes of scallops were associated with the assemblage containing the greatest number of species and individuals in sandy sediments. This assemblage had the greatest biomass of emergent fauna such as hydroids and Alcyonium digitatum. Data acquired from a RoxAnn™ acoustic signal processor were able to differentiate between the substratum or biotopes associated with the greatest abundance of scallops. This may provide a useful tool for refining surveys of commercial stocks or mapping suitable habitats.
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Armitage, Patrick D., Isabel Pardo, and Adrian Brown. "Temporal constancy of faunal assemblages in 'mesohabitats' - Application to management?" Archiv für Hydrobiologie 133, no. 3 (June 12, 1995): 367–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/archiv-hydrobiol/133/1995/367.
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Mauclaire, L., J. Gibert, and C. Claret. "Do bacteria and nutrients control faunal assemblages in alluvial aquifers?" Fundamental and Applied Limnology 148, no. 1 (April 13, 2000): 85–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/archiv-hydrobiol/148/2000/85.
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