Novocrania turbinata (Brachiopoda) from the Early Pliocene of the Azores (Portugal)
Authors
Andreas Kroh
Natural History Museum Vienna, Department of Geology & Palaeontology, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna
Maria Aleksandra Bitner
Instytut Paleobiologii PAN, ul. Twarda 51/55, PL-00-818 Warszawa, Poland
Sergio P. Avila
Departamento de Biologia, Universidade dos Açores, Rua da Mãe de Deus, Apartado 1422, 9501 - 801 Ponta Delgada, Açor
Keywords:
Craniiform brachiopod, Pliocene, Azores, Northern Atlantic Ocean, New Record, Spatial Range Extension
Abstract
Novocrania turbinata (POLI, 1795) is documented from the Early Pliocene strata of Santa Maria Island (Azores, Portugal), extending the range of this species to the central Northern Atlantic Ocean. This record increases the meagre brachiopod fauna known from the Pliocene of the Azores, which so far consisted only of Terebratulina retusa (LINNAEUS, 1758). It may also represent an example of a thermophilic species that disappeared locally due to Late Pliocene-Pleistocene climate deterioration.
