Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T17:37:12.781Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Biogeographic patterns and Plio-Pleistocene extinction of Bivalvia in the Mediterranean and southern North Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2016

Sergio Raffi
Affiliation:
Università delgi Studi di Parma, Instituto di Geologia, Paleontologia e Geografia, Via J. F. Kennedy, 43100 Parma, Italy
Steven M. Stanley
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
Raffaella Marasti
Affiliation:
Università delgi Studi di Parma, Instituto di Geologia, Paleontologia e Geografia, Via J. F. Kennedy, 43100 Parma, Italy

Abstract

An evaluation of the history of polysyringian species (filibranchs and eulamellibranchs) reveals that the huge early Pliocene bivalve fauna of the Mediterranean Basin (MB) and North Sea Basin (NSB) suffered heavy extinction during late Pliocene and early Pleistocene time. This is evidenced by low survivorship of early Pliocene species in the Recent and by a decline in species richness of the two basins from 323 known early Pliocene species to 198 living species.

Several kinds of evidence indicate that cooling rather than the areal effect of eustatic sea-level lowering was the primary cause of the excessive extinction: (1) heavy Plio-Pleistocene extinction of mollusks was not global but concentrated around the margins of the northern Atlantic—an ocean fringed by polar ice caps; (2) taxa of tropical affinities were most severely affected; (3) heavy extinction occurred in the MB in areas not marked by facies change; (4) in the MB the onset of extinctions coincided with the onset elsewhere, but because of tectonic activity, water depths in the MB were not under tight eustatic control; (5) 14 species present in both the MB and NSB during early Pliocene time are now restricted to waters south of the NSB; and (6) the majority of species common to the two basins during the early Pliocene (eurythermal species) have survived to the present.

Molluscan data support palynological evidence that the climate in the MB was warmer and less seasonal in early Pliocene time than today, when latitudinal temperature gradients are steeper. Molluscan evidence indicates that the North Sea is exceptional in being less seasonal (though cooler) today than in early Pliocene time, and we attribute this anomaly to the local effects of the Gulf Stream, which was strengthened in mid-Pliocene time by the uplift of the Isthmus of Panama.

The heavy extinction in the MB and NSB about 3.2–3.0 ma ago approximately coincided with the earliest deposition of glacial tills in Iceland and with isotopic shifts in the tests of planktonic foraminifers preserved in deep-sea cores. Additional heavy extinction probably coincided with a pulse of severe cooling in late Pliocene time, 2.5–2.4 ma ago. Heavy extinction of mollusks in the MB and NSB continued into the early Pleistocene but not into the middle and late Pleistocene, apparently because by this time it was primarily only eurythermal species that survived. Today the molluscan faunas of the MB and NSB are unusually eurythermal; few species are restricted to a single biogeographic province.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Adam, W. and Knudsen, J. 1955. Note sur quelques espèces de mollusques marine nouveaux ou peu connus de l'Afrique occidentale. Bull. Inst. Roy. Sci. Nat. Belgique. 31(61):125.Google Scholar
Bassindale, R. 1961. On the marine fauna of Ghana. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 137:481510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellardi, L. 1872–1890. I Molluschi dei terreni terziari del Piemonte e della Liguria. Vols. 1–6. Mem. R. Acc. Sci. Torino. 27, 29, 34, 37, 38, 40.Google Scholar
Blackwelder, B. W. 1981. Late Cenozoic stages and molluscan zones of the U.S. Middle Atlantic coastal plain. Paleontol. Soc. Mem. 12.Google Scholar
Bouchet, P. 1982. Les Terebridae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) de l'Atlantique oriental. Boll. Malacol. 18(9–12):185216.Google Scholar
Briggs, J. 1974. Marine Zoogeography. 475 pp. McGraw-Hill Book Co.; New York.Google Scholar
Buchanan, J. B. 1954. Marine molluscs of the Gold Coast. J. W. Afr. Sci. Ass. 1:3045.Google Scholar
Buchanan, J. B. and Anderson, M. M. 1955. Additional records to the marine molluscan fauna of the Gold Coast. J. W. Afr. Sci. Ass. 1:5761.Google Scholar
Coomans, H. E. 1962. The marine mollusk fauna of the Virginian area as a basis for defining Zoogeographical provinces. Beaufortia. 9:83104.Google Scholar
Cornet, R. and Marche-Marchad, I. 1951. Mollusques. In: Inventaire de la faune marine de Roscoff. Tr. St. Biol. Roscoff. Suppl. 5:180.Google Scholar
Dautzenberg, Ph. 1898. Coup d'oeil sur la faune de Départment de la Loire-Inférieure. Mollusques. Extract from “Nantes et la Loire-Inférieure.” 23 pp. Fr. Ass. Adv. Sci.; Nantes.Google Scholar
Dautzenberg, Ph. 1912. Mission Gruvel sur la côte occidentale d'Afrique (1909–1910). Mollusques marins. Ann. Inst. Océanogr. 5(3):1111.Google Scholar
Dautzenberg, Ph. 1913. Atlas de poche des coquilles des côtes de France. 152 pp. P. Klincksieck; Paris.Google Scholar
Dautzenberg, Ph. 1927. Mollusques provenant des campagnes scientifiques du Prince Albert Ier de Monaco dans l'Océan Atlantique et dans le Golfe de Rés. Camp. Sci. 72:1400.Google Scholar
Dautzenberg, Ph. and Durouchoux, P. 1913. Les mollusques de la Baie de Saint-Malo. Feuille Jeun. Natur. Suppl. 522:164.Google Scholar
Dautzenberg, Ph. and Fischer, H. 1906. Mollusques provenant des dragages effectués à l'ouest de l'Afrique pendant les campagnes scientifiques de S.A.S. le Prince de Monaco. Rés. Camp. Sci. 32:1125.Google Scholar
Dautzenberg, P. and Fischer, H. 1912. Mollusques provenant des campagnes de l'Hirondelle et de la Princesse-Alice dans les Mers due Nord. Rés. Camp. Sci. 37:1629.Google Scholar
De Stefani, C. and Pantanelli, D. 1878. Molluschi pliocenici dei dintorni di Siena. Bull. Soc. Malac. It. 4:5215.Google Scholar
Dollfus, G. F. and Berkeley Cotter, J. C. 1909. Mollusques tertiaires du Portugal. Le Pliocène au Nord du Tage. Ier pt. Pélécypoda. 103 pp. Comm. Serv. Géol. Port.; Lisbonne.Google Scholar
Dollfus, G. F., Berkeley Cotter, J. C., and Gomes, J. P. 1903–1904. Mollusques tertiaires du Portugal. Planches de Céphalopodes, Gastéropodes et Pélécypodes laissées par F. A. Pereira Da Costa. 55 pp. Comm. Serv. Géol. Port.; Lisbonne.Google Scholar
Ekman, S. 1953. Zoogeography of the sea. 417 pp. Sidgwick & Jackson; London.Google Scholar
Erünal-Erentöz, L. 1958. Mollusques du Néogène des Bassins de Karaman, Adana et Hatay (Turquie). Publ. Et. Rech. Minièr. Turquie. Sér. C. 4:1232.Google Scholar
Fischer, H. 1898. Liste des Mollusques marine recueillis à Guéthary et à St. Jean-de-Luz. Pp. 127136. Trans. Soc. Sci. Arcachon; Paris.Google Scholar
Fischer-Piette, E. 1975. Révision des Venerinae s.s. (Mollusques Lamellibranches). Mém. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. Sér. A Zool. 93:164.Google Scholar
Fischer-Piette, E. 1977. Révision des Cardiidae (Mollusques Lamellibranches). Mém. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. Sér. A Zool. 101:1212.Google Scholar
Fischer-Piette, E. and Delmas, D. 1967. Révision des Mollusques Lamellibranches du genre Dosinia Scopoli. Mém. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. Sér. A Zool. 47:191.Google Scholar
Fischer-Piette, E., Fischer, P. H., Germain, I., and Pallary, P. 1942. Les Mollusques d'Adanson. J. Conch. 85:103365.Google Scholar
Fischer-Piette, E. and Métivier, B. 1971. Révision des Tapetinae (Mollusques Bivalves). Mém. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. Sér. A Zool. 71:1106.Google Scholar
Fischer-Piette, E. and Vukadinovic, D. 1977. Suite des révisions des Veneridae (Moll. Lamellibr.) Chioinae, Samaranginae et complément aux Vénus. Mém. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. Sér. A Zool. 106:3186.Google Scholar
Forbes, E. 1856. Map of the distribution of the marine life. Plate no. 31. In: Johnson, Alexander K. The Physical Atlas of Natural Phenomena (new ed.). Edinburgh and London.Google Scholar
Fredj, G. 1974. Stockage et exploitation des données en écologie marine. C-Considérations biogéographiques sur le peuplement benthique de la Meditérranée. Mém. Inst. Océanogr. Monaco. 7:188.Google Scholar
Gartner, S. Jr. 1977. Calcareous nonnofossil biostratigraphy and revision zonation of the Pleistocene. Mar. Micropaleontol. 2:125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gladenkov, Y. B. 1981. Marine Plio-Pleistocene of Iceland and problems of its correlation. Quat. Res. 1 15:1823.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glemarec, M. 1968. Pélécypodes marins de la côte atlantique française. 21 pp. Laboratoire de Zoologie; Brest.Google Scholar
Glemarec, M. 1978. Distribution bathymétrique & latitudinale des bivalves du Golfe de Gascogne. Haliotis. 9:2332.Google Scholar
Glibert, M. 1957–1959. Pélécypodes du Diestien, du Scaldisien et du Merxemien de la Belgique. Bull. Inst. Roy. Sci. Nat. Belgique. 32(9):140, 32(47):1–28, 34(42):1–27, 35(36):1–24.Google Scholar
Gubert, M. 1958. Tableau stratigraphique des mollusques du Néogène de la Belgique. Bull. Inst. Roy. Sci. Nat. Belgique. 34(32):132.Google Scholar
Habe, T. 1964. Shells of the western Pacific in color. 233 pp. Hoikusha Publishing Co. Ltd.; Osaka.Google Scholar
Hall, C. 1964. Shallow-water marine climates and molluscan provinces. Ecology. 45(2):226234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harmer, F. W. 1914–1925. The Pliocene Mollusca of Great Britain. Palaeontol. Soc. 67, 68, 70, 71–73, 75, 76.Google Scholar
Hedgpeth, J. W. 1957. Marine biogeography. Geol. Soc. Am. 67:359382.Google Scholar
Heering, J. 1950. Pelecypoda (and Scaphopoda) of the Pliocene and older Pleistocene deposits of the Netherlands (Peel Region). Meded. Geol. Sticht. 9:1225.Google Scholar
Hidalgo, J. G. 1917. Fauna malacologica de España, Portugal y las Baleares: Moluscos testaceos marinos. Trab. Mus. Nac. Cienc. Nat. Ser. Zool. 30:1752.Google Scholar
Holme, N. A. 1961. The bottom fauna of the English Channel. J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 41:397461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keigwin, L. E. 1978. Pliocene closing of the Isthmus of Panama, based on biostratigraphic evidence from nearby Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea cores. Geology. 6:630634.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keigwin, L. D. and Thunnel, R. C. 1979. Middle Pliocene climatic change in the western Mediterranean from faunal and oxygen isotopic trends. Nature. 282:294296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kira, T. 1965. Shells of the Western Pacific in color. 224 pp. Hoikusha Publishing Co. Ltd.; Osaka.Google Scholar
Knudsen, J. 1956. Marine Prosobranchs of Tropical West Africa (Stenoglossa). Atlantide Report. 4:7110.Google Scholar
Lacourt, A. W. 1977. Contribution à la connaissance de la fauna marine de la région d'Arcachon. Zool. Meded. 52:223253.Google Scholar
Lande, E. 1975. A Collection of Pelecypoda from Möre and Romsdal, Western Norway. Sarsia. 59:714.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lecointre, G. 1952. Recherches sur de Néogène et la Quaternaire marine de la côte atlantique du Maroc. Tome 2. Paléontologie. Serv. Géol. Maroc. Notes et Mém. 99:1173.Google Scholar
Lewy, Z. 1975. Molluscs distribution on the Atlantic continental shelf off Southern Spanish Sahara, West Africa. Meteor Forsch.-Ergebnisse. 21:5260.Google Scholar
MacAndrew, R. 1850. Notes on the distribution and range in depths of mollusca and other marine animals observed on the coasts of Spain, Portugal, Barbary, Malta and southern Italy in 1849. Rep. Br. Assn. Adv. Sci. 1850:264304.Google Scholar
MacAndrew, R. and Woodward, H. 1863. Species of Mollusca obtained in Corunna Bay. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 14:232324.Google Scholar
Marasti, R. and Raffi, S. 1976. Osservazioni biostratigrafiche e paleoecologiche sulla malacofauna del Piacenziano di Maiatico (Parma, Emilia occidentale). Boll. Soc. Paleontol. Ital. 15:189214.Google Scholar
Marasti, R. and Raffi, S. 1977. Diversità tassonomica dei bivalvi pliocenici del Bacino padano: 1° I bivalvi dell'Emilia occidentale. L'Atenco Parmense. Acta Natur. 13:370.Google Scholar
Marasti, R. and Raffi, S. 1979. Observations on the paleoclimatic and biogeographic meaning of the Mediterranean Pliocene molluscs. State of the problem. VII. International Congress on the Mediterranean Neogene, Athens. Ann. Géol. Pays Hellén. Tome hors série 1979. 2:727734.Google Scholar
Marasti, R. and Raffi, S. 1980a. Extinction of polysyringian bivalves in the Mediterranean Pliocene. Pp. 107115. In: Instituto di Geologia Univ. Parma. Volume dedicato a Sergio Venzo. Grafiche STEP; Parma.Google Scholar
Marasti, R. and Raffi, S. 1980b. La diversità tassonomica dei bivalvi del Pliocene mediterraneo: elenco preliminare. Proposta di lavoro al Gruppo di ricerca C.N.R. “Paleobenthos.” Prospettive di ricerca. 30 pp. Riunione del 24–28 maggio 1980, Palermo.Google Scholar
Marche-Marchad, I. 1958. Nouveau catalogue de la Collection des Mollusques testacés marins de l'I.F.A.N. Cat. Inst. Franc. Afr. Noire. 14:164.Google Scholar
Mars, P. 1963. Les faunes et la stratigraphie du Quaternaire Méditerranéen. Rec. Trav. St. Mar. End. 28:6197.Google Scholar
McDougall, I. and Wensink, H. 1966. Paleomagnetism and geochronology of the Pliocene-Pleistocene lavas in Iceland. Earth and Planet. Sci. Letters. 1:232236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McMillan, N. F. 1968. British shells. 196 pp. F. Warne & Co. Ltd.; London–New York.Google Scholar
Meco Cabrera, J. 1981. Neogastropodos fosiles de Las Canarias orientales. An. Est. Atlanticos. 27:601615.Google Scholar
Meco Cabrera, J. 1982. Los Bivalvos fosiles de Las Canarias orientales. An. Est. Atlanticos. 28:65125.Google Scholar
Monbet, Y. 1973. Contribution à la connaissance de la fauna malacologique du plateau continental au large d'Arcachon. Bull. Soc. linnéenne Borddeaux. 3(7):154156.Google Scholar
Mosquera, E. R. 1983. Moluscos de la Ria de Vigo. I. Gastropodos. 383 pp. Velograf, S. A. Milladoiro, s/n; Santiago de Campostela (Espñna).Google Scholar
Nickles, M. 1950. Mollusques testacés marins de la Côte occidentale d'Afrique. Manuels ouest-africains. 2:1269.Google Scholar
Nickles, M. 1955. Scaphopodes et Lamellibranches récoltés dan l'Ouest Africain. Atlantide Rep. 3:93237.Google Scholar
Nobre, A. 1931. Moluscos Marinhos de Portugal. 463 pp. Impresa Portuguesa; Pôrto.Google Scholar
Nobre, A. 1936. Moluscos Marinhos de Portugal. Vol. 2, 377 pp. Comp. Edit. Minho; Barcelos.Google Scholar
Nordsieck, F. 1968. Die europäischen Meeres-Gehäuseschnecken (Prosobranchia). 273 pp. G. Fischer Verlag; Stuttgart.Google Scholar
Nordsieck, F. 1969. Die europäischen Meeresmuscheln (Bivalvia). 256 pp. G. Fischer Verlag; Stuttgart.Google Scholar
Nordsieck, F. and Talavera, F. G. 1979. Moluscos marinos de Canarias y Madera (Gastropoda). 208 pp. Aula de Cultura; Tenerife.Google Scholar
Ockelmann, W. K. 1958. The zoology of east Greenland. Marine Lamellibranchiata. Meddelelser om Gronland. 122(4):256.Google Scholar
Ortea Rato, J. A. 1977. Moluscos marinos gastropodos y bivalves del litoral asturiano entre Ribadesella y Ribadeo con especial atencion a la subclase de los opistobranquios. 581 pp. Tesis Doctoral. Sec. Biol. Univers.; Orviedo.Google Scholar
Pasteur-Humbert, Ch. 1962a. Les mollusques marins testacés du Maroc. I. Les Gastéropodes. Trav. Inst. Sci. Chérifien. Sér. Zool. 23:1245.Google Scholar
Pasteur-Humbert, Ch. 1962b. Les mollusques marins testacés du Maroc. II. Les Lamellibranches et les Scaphopodes. Trav. Inst. Sci. Chérifien. Sér. Zool. 28:1184.Google Scholar
Peres, J. M. 1967. The Mediterranean benthos. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev. 5:449533.Google Scholar
Philippi, R. A. 1936. Enumeratio molluscorum Siciliae. 268 pp. Berolini.Google Scholar
Philippi, R. A. 1844. Enumeratio molluscorum Siciliae. Vol. 2:303 pp. Halis Saxonum.Google Scholar
Piani, P. 1967. Catalogo dei molluschi conchiferi viventi nel Mediterraneo. Boll. Malacologico. 16(5–6):113224.Google Scholar
Raffi, S. 1982. Stato delle conoscenze sulla sezione pleistocenica marina del Torrente Stirone (Parma). Pp. 141144. In: Cremonini, G. and Ricci Lucchi, F., eds. Guida alla geologica del margine appenninico-padano. Guida Geol. Reg. S.G.I.; Bologna.Google Scholar
Raffi, S. 1986. Are the Mediterranean Lower Pleistocene Boreal Guests only of historical importance or possibly a basic tool of paleoclimatic inference? Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol. In press.Google Scholar
Raffi, S. and Marasti, R. 1982. The Mediterranean bioprovince from the Pliocene to the Recent: observations and hypotheses based on the evolution of the taxonomic diversity of molluscs. Pp. 151177. In: Montanaro Gallitelli, E., ed. Palaeontology, Essential of Historical Geology (Proc. Intern. Meeting, Venice). S.T.E.M. Mucchi; Modena.Google Scholar
Ruggieri, G. 1967. The Miocene and later evolution of the Mediterranean Sea. Pp. 283290. In: Adams, G. C. and Ager, D. V., eds. Aspects of Tethyan Biogeography. Systematics Association. Publication n.7.Google Scholar
Sacco, F. 1890–1904. I Molluschi dei terreni terziari del Piemonte e della Liguria. Vols. 6–30. Carlo Clausen; Torino.Google Scholar
Salvat, B. 1967. Mollusques des plages océaniques et semi-arbritées du Bassin d'Arcachon. Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. Sér. 2, 39:11771191.Google Scholar
Saracino, C., Marano, G., Casavola, N., and Rizzi, E. 1982. Ciclo riproduttivo e biometria di Protopecten glaber (L.) (Bivalvia, Pectinidae) nel Basso Adriatico. Boll. Mus. Ist. Univ. Genova. Suppl. 50:332337.Google Scholar
Schopf, T. J. M., Fischer, J. B., and Smith, C. A. 1977. Is the marine latitudinal diversity gradient merely another example of the species area curve? Pp. 365386. In: Gray, J. and Boucot, A. J., eds. Historical Biogeography, Plate Tectonics, and the Changing Environment. Oregon State Univ. Press; Corvallis.Google Scholar
Shackleton, N. J., Backman, J., Zimmerman, H., Kent, D. V., Hall, M. A., Roberts, D. G., Schnitker, D., Baldauf, J. G., Desprairies, A., Homrighausen, R., Huddlestun, P., Keene, J. N., Kaltenback, A. J., Krumsiek, K. A. O., Morton, A. C., Murray, J. W., and Westberg-Smith, J. 1984. Oxygen isotope calibration of the onset of ice-rafting and history of glaciation in the North Atlantic region. Nature, 307:620623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shackleton, N. J. and Opdyke, N. D. 1976. Oxygen-isotope and paleomagnetic stratigraphy of Pacific core 28-239 Late Pliocene to Latest Pleistocene. In: Cline, R. M. and Hays, J. D., eds. Investigation of Late Quaternary Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology. Geol. Soc. Am. Mem. 145:449464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorgenfrei, T. 1958. Molluscan Assemblages from the Marine Middle Miocene of South Jutland and their Environments. Geol. Surv. Denmark. Ser. 2, 79:1503.Google Scholar
Stanley, S. M. 1982a. Glacial refrigeration and Neogene regional mass extinction of marine bivalves. Pp. 179191. In: Montanaro Gallitelli, E., ed. Palaeontology, Essential of Historical Geology (Proc. Intern. Meeting, Venice). S.T.E.M. Mucchi; Modena.Google Scholar
Stanley, S. M. 1982b. Species selection involving alternative character states: an approach to macroevolutionary analysis. Proc. N. Am. Paleontol. Conv. 2:505510.Google Scholar
Stanley, S. M. 1984. Marine mass extinctions: A dominant role for temperature. Pp. 69117. In: Nitecki, M. H., ed. Extinctions. Univ. Chicago Press; Chicago.Google Scholar
Stanley, S. M., Addicott, W. O., and Chinzei, K. 1980. Lyellian curves in paleontology: Possibilities and limitations. Geology. 8:422426.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanley, S. M. and Campbell, L. D. 1981. Neogene mass extinction of Western Atlantic molluscs. Nature. 293:457459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suc, J. P. and Zagwijn, W. H. 1983. Plio-Pleistocene correlations between the N-W Mediterranean and N-W Europe according to recent biostratigraphic and paleoclimatic data. Boreas. 12:153166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sverdrup, H. U., Johnson, M. W., and Fleming, R. H. 1942. The Oceans: Their physics, chemistry, and general biology. 1,087 pp. Prentice-Hall, Inc.; Englewood Cliffs, NJ.Google Scholar
Talavera, F. G. 1975. Moluscos de sedimentos de la plataforma continental de Mauritania. Bol. Inst. Esp. Oceanogr. 192:318.Google Scholar
Taylor, J. D. and Taylor, C. N. 1977. Latitudinal distribution of predatory gastropods on the eastern Atlantic shelf. J. Biogeog. 4:7381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tebble, N. 1966. British bivalve seashells: A handbook for identification. 212 pp. British Museum (Natural History); London.Google Scholar
Thunnell, R. C. and Williams, D. F. 1983. The stepwise development of Pliocene-Pleistocene paleoclimatic and paleooceanographic conditions in the Mediterranean: oxygen isotopic studies of DSDP Sites 125 and 132. Utrecht Micropaleontol. Bull. 30:111127.Google Scholar
Vail, P. R., Mitchum, R. M., and Thompson, S. 1977. Global cycles of relative changes of sea level. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Mem. 26:8397.Google Scholar
Van Straaten, L. M. J. U. 1956. Composition of shell beds formed in tidal flat environment in the Netherlands and in the Bay of Arcachon (France), Geol. Mijnb. 18:209226.Google Scholar
Van Urk, R. M. 1964. The genus Ensis in Europe. Basteria. 28:1344.Google Scholar
Van Urk, R. M. 1971. Fossil Ensis species in the Netherlands. Basteria. 35:176.Google Scholar
Van Urk, R. M. 1980. Fossil and recent Lutraria (Mollusca, Bivalvia) in Europe, with descriptions of four new species. Meded. Werkgr. Tert. Kwart. Geol. 17(5):235266.Google Scholar
Vermeij, G. J. 1980. Molluscan extinction at the Panama isthmus: Predation or food? Geol. Soc. Am. Abst. 12:541.Google Scholar
Vermeij, G. J. and Petuch, E. J.Differential extinction in tropical American molluscs: endemism, architecture, and the Panama land bridge. Malacologia. In press.Google Scholar
Wise, K. P. and Schopf, T. J. 1981. Was marine faunal diversity in the Pleistocene affected by changes in sea level? Paleobiology. 7:394399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, S. V. 1848–1882. A monograph of the Crag Mollusca or descriptions of shells from the Middle and Upper Tertiaries of the East of England. Palaeontol. Soc. 1, 5, 7, 10, 25, 27, 36.Google Scholar
Woodward, S. P. 1866. A manual of the Mollusca: A treatise on recent fossil shells. 542 pp. 2d ed.Virtue Brothers; London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zagwijn, W. H. 1974. The Plio-Pleistocene boundary in western and southern Europe. Boreas. 3:7597.CrossRefGoogle Scholar