Vigencia de las especies de Prionorhynchia buckman, 1918 (Brachiopoda, Rhynchonellida) erigidas como nuevas por Jiménez de Cisneros en el Jurásico Inferior de la Cordillera Bética Oriental

Se actualizan las especies del género Prionorhynchia que Jiménez de Cisneros consideró como nuevas, puntualizando trabajos previos (Alméras et al.,1993) que acertadamente revisaron buena parte de estos taxones. Se constata la validez de P. gignouxi, la cual se describe formalmente y se establece su sinonimia. Se integran en la sinonimia de P. quinqueplicata varias de las especies estudiadas, caracterizándola en el SE peninsular. Se ha precisado el rango bioestratigráfico de todas ellas en el Pliensbachiense superior terminal.S’actualitzen les espècies de Prionorhynchia les quals van ser considerades com a noves per Jiménez de Cisneros, puntualitzant treballs previs (Alméras et al.,1993) que encertadament revisaren bona part d’aquestos taxons. Es constata la validesa de P. gignouxi, la qual es descriu formalment, establint la seua sinonímia. S’integren en la sinonímia de P. quinqueplicata diverses espècies estudiades, la qual es caracteritza al SE Peninsular. S’estableix el seu rang biostratigràfic al Pliensbaquià superior.Six species of Prionorhynchia genus regarded as new by Jiménez de Cisneros have been updated, pointing out previous studies (Alméras et al., 1993) which rightly reviewed most of these taxa, verifying the validity of P. gignouxi, which is described formally herein establishing its synonymy. Additionally, several species are included in the synonymy of P. quinqueplicata, characterizing it in the Southeastern area of the Iberian Peninsula. The biostratigraphic range of all of them was specified in the uppermost Pliensbachian.Este trabajo se ha realizado bajo el marco del grupo de investigación VIGROB-167 de la Universidad de Alicante

The last representatives of the Superfamily Wellerelloidea (Brachiopoda, Rhynchonellida) in the westernmost Tethys (Iberian paleomargins) prior to their demise in the early Toarcian Mass Extinction Event

The last clade-level extinction episode affecting the Phylum Brachiopoda has been long-established in the Early Toarcian Mass Extinction Event (ETMEE) around the Pliensbachian-Toarcian transition, when several rhynchonellide groups became extinct and others underwent a notable renewal in the western Tethys. Among them, Wellerelloidea is a long-ranging superfamily severely affected by this environmental crisis, embodying the subfamily Cirpinae as the last wellerelloids worldwide, prior to their global extinction in the Pb-To transition. The profuse record of Lower Jurassic cirpines in the peri-Iberian paleomargins provides an opportunity to clarify the taxonomy of wellerelloid species in the pre-extinction interval. A new species (Cirpa lucentina) is erected and the revision of the Cirpinae taxa around the ETMEE is carried out. Morphometric analysis and the study of internal structures of the shells support separation of the genera Cirpa and Salgirella, adding new supplementary diagnostic criteria. The biogeographic distribution of this clade in the western Tethys and its evolutionary history in the Early Jurassic reveal a pervasive colonization pattern of both epicontinental and epioceanic habitats. The Mediterranean origin of the last representatives of this group is ascertained, but while diversification of Salgirella took place in epioceanic habitats, speciation of Cirpa is unrelated to biochorema boundaries, even colonizing epicontinental seas until their extinction prior to the hyperwarming event that occurred in the basal Serpentinum Zone. A rhynchonellide morphogroup epitomized by cirpines was resilient to this event in the epicontinental seas. This morphogroup is also recorded after the extinction interval by means of the genus Pseudogibbirhynchia, thus postulating potential pre- and post-extinction phyletic relationships.This research is a contribution to the IGCP-710 Western Tethys meets Eastern Tethys, and to the Research Groups VIGROB-167 (University of Alicante) and PBM-910431 (Complutense University of Madrid)

Decoding the Mediterranean Salinity Crisis by microfossils as teaching resource in Geosciences

El estudio de las disciplinas científicas resulta más atractivo si se acompaña de actividades de carácter práctico. En este trabajo se propone un taller cuya finalidad es introducir al alumnado en el estudio de los microfósiles y de las reconstrucciones paleoambientales aplicándolo a uno de los eventos más significativos ocurridos en el área Mediterránea, que conllevó la desecación y posterior reinundación de toda la cuenca hace aproximadamente unos cinco millones de años. El taller consta de tres sesiones: una teórica, de introducción de los contenidos necesarios para el desarrollo de la actividad, una práctica, de obtención de datos, y una final, de interpretación de los cambios ambientales y presentación de los resultados en forma de artículo científico y posterior debate en el aula. Todos los datos necesarios para el desarrollo de la actividad se proporcionan en el presente artículo. Además, se proponen una serie de recursos bibliográficos y audiovisuales de fácil acceso para la introducción de los conceptos teóricos.Studying scientific topics is more interesting if theory is followed by practice. Through the activity herein presented students are introduced to the study of microfossils and paleoenvironmental reconstructions, applying them to one of the most significant event in the recent history of the Mediterranean Sea: the desiccation and posterior reflooding of the basin, occurred about five millions years ago. The activity is articulated into three sessions: a theoretical one, by which the basic concepts necessary for working out the activity are introduced, a practical one, focused on the data gathering, and a last one, during which results are interpreted and presented to the class, in the form of both scientific paper and oral debate. Dataset needed for the elaboration of the activity is included in the present paper and references for the introduction of the theoretical concept are proposed as well.Este trabajo se ha realizado en el marco del proyecto de investigación CGL2007-65832 (MCyT) y el grupo de investigación Cambios Paleoambientales (VIGROB-167) de la Universidad de Alicante

New deep-water brachiopod resilient assemblage from the South-Iberian Palaeomargin (Western Tethys) and its significance for the brachiopod adaptive strategies around the Early Toarcian Mass Extinction Event

The Pliensbachian-Toarcian transition was a period of changes in long-term environmental conditions leading up to the Early Toarcian Mass Extinction Event (ETMEE), which resulted in a noticeable extinction and turnover in the marine biota. The westernmost Tethyan basins, especially the peri-Iberian platforms, provide an exceptional brachiopod record to better understand the adaptive strategies and the severe ecological effects of these faunas within the marine ecosystems. This event marks a critical interval in the evolutionary history of the Phylum Brachiopoda as two orders, the Athyridida and Spiriferinida, became extinct. Evolutionary patterns displayed by several taxa from these groups and some rhynchonellids typifying deep-water habitats are analyzed across this biotic crisis spanning several Mediterranean and NW-European basins. New work performed in La Cerradura section, a deep pelagic trough from the South-Iberian palaeomargin, reveals two new taxa (Koninckodonta sumuntanensis and Atychorhynchia falsiorigo) herein described. This newly documented fauna supports pre-extinction dwarfing and resilience in deep refugia linked to the ETMEE, and an episode of speciation which is interpreted in terms of a pre-extinction radiation. In the ETMEE repopulation phase an opportunistic strategy occurs typified by Soaresirhynchia bouchardi, and a case of homoplasy involving post-extinction pioneers (Elvis taxon) is detected. Similar adaptive strategies occurred associated with other mass extinctions such as the Permian/Triassic and the Cretaceous/Paleocene events, supporting a possible standard pattern in the response of the brachiopod fauna to such biotic crises and shedding light on the ecological effects of the mass extinction events.This research is a contribution to the IGCP-655 Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event: Impact on marine carbon cycle and ecosystems and was also supported by projects RYC-2009-04316 (Ramón y Cajal Program), P11-RNM-7408 (Junta de Andalucía), CGL2015-66604-R (MINECO, Government of Spain), and the Research Group VIGROB-167 (University of Alicante)

First evidence of brachiopod diversification after the end-Triassic extinction from the pre-Pliensbachian Internal Subbetic platform (South-Iberian Paleomargin)

Lower Jurassic brachiopods are widely known in the External Betic Zone. Their occurrence was so far virtually restricted to the easternmost Subbetic Zone where they underwent a diversity burst and radiation event during the late Sinemurian–early Pliensbachian interval, leading to a bloom in brachiopod diversity from the early Pliensbachian onwards. Taxonomical and paleobiogeographical analyses performed in a newly recorded assemblage from the most offshore areas of the Subbetic Basin (Granada province, Spain) reveals that this diversification event occurred earlier than expected hitherto, probably in the Turneri–Obtusum chronozones, as similarly observed in the most intra-Tethyan basins such as the Northern Calcareous Alps and Transdanubian Ranges, illustrating the recovery of the background conditions for the establishment of diversified brachiopod communities after the end-Triassic extinction event. A new rhynchonellide species, Alebusirhynchia vorosi nov. sp., is formally described among the ten different taxa recorded for the first time in this area. The Mediterranean paleobiogeographical affinities revealed by the brachiopod assemblage emphasizes that the onset of the Mediterranean/Euro-Boreal bioprovinciality and the initial brachiopod diversification in the pre-Pliensbachian Internal Subbetic platform took place earlier in the Sinemurian as well, following the Euro-Boreal monotypic record previously reported in this region.This research was supported by project CGL2015-66604-R (MINECO, Government of Spain), the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA K112708), and the Research Group VIGROB-167 (University of Alicante)

Brachiopod faunal exchange through an epioceanic-epicontinental transitional area from the Early Jurassic South Iberian platform system

The La Mola region (eastern External Betic Zone) can be regarded as one of the easternmost complete Jurassic successions of the Betic Cordillera in the Iberian Peninsula, but the paleogeographical setting of their outcrops remains widely discussed. Analysis of brachiopod assemblages from the Lower Jurassic improves the accuracy of previous paleogeographical data, enabling identification of a mainly epioceanic transitional area in which influences of epicontinental habitats are also detected. Assemblage 1, mainly with a Mediterranean affinity but also sharing several constituents with the African and Northeastern Iberian basins, typifies the Sinemurian–Pliensbachian transition. Assemblage 2, as a whole, shows a transitional character between epioceanic and epicontinental habitats; it is subdivided into two successive and interrelated sub-assemblages: Ass. 2a (Demonense–Tenuicostatum Zones) reveals a free connection with the epioceanic Subbetic area, whereas Ass. 2b (Uppermost Pliensbachian–Lower Toarcian) shows a closer relationship with epicontinental environments. Assemblage 3 (Uppermost Spinatum–basal Serpentinum Zones) is commonly recorded in the peri-Iberian epicontinental platform system integrated within the NW-European bioprovince, but it can also be regarded as a marginal assemblage that is widespread in the westernmost Tethyan margin prior to the Early Toarcian extinction event. Assemblage 2 constitutes a suitable index for assessing the paleobiogeographical affinity of the La Mola region, as Ass. 2a is progressively replaced by Ass. 2b, thus triggering the arrival of epicontinental taxa to the more intra-epioceanic Subbetic environments, inferring a possible connection through the La Mola transitional slope. Consequently, this region enabled a faunal mixing and exchange between both environments, and La Mola likely remained as an area that would facilitate migration and an effective dispersal seaway or, at least, did not constitute an ecological filter-barrier for brachiopods. Biostratigraphical data from brachiopods and ammonites are correlated for the first time in La Mola, refining and calibrating biochronostratigraphical gaps in the pre-Domerian deposits where biochronological markers are usually scarce, and around the Pliensbachian–Toarcian boundary, a crucial timespan in which the Early Toarcian extinction event took place.This research is a contribution to projects CGL2015-66604-R (MINECO/FEDER) and to Research Group VIGROB-167 (University of Alicante)

Braquiópodos fósiles del Jurásico Inferior de la Sierra de Los Frailes (Alicante). Resultados preliminares

The revision of the fossil collection of Daniel Jiménez de Cisneros join with the re-study of his Early Jurassic quarries has allowed to obtain new collections of brachiopods, mainly of Sinemurian and Pliensbachian age. These collections contain, in addition to the classic species described, new species of species mentioned for the first time in the Early Jurassic of the Betic Range. In the present paper, an outcrop in the Sierra de los Frailes (London de las Nieves, Alicante), located in the front of a aggregate quarry which containing an abundant fauna of brachiopods is characterized. New studies, at the moment in course, will preview more diversity and greater abundance of this fauna, because of the result of new collections.Este trabajo ha sido realizado en el marco del proyecto BTE 2002-01113, del grupo de investigación GRUPOS03/085 (Generalitat Valenciana), y de la beca de Investigación COL-2102 de la Universidad de Alicante

Reef-associated depositional environments in the lowermost Cretaceous facies (Berriasian) from the Eastern Prebetic domain (South-Iberian Palaeomargin, SE Spain)

The Berriasian carbonate successions cropping out in the shallow-water platform of the easternmost Prebetic Domain (SE Spain) involve reef-associated environments including a diverse epibiota with diceratid representatives unreported so far. Interpretation of different sub-environments suggests a proximal-distal shallow platform transect. In the shallowest nearshore environment, high energy conditions are recorded, with fine-grained bioclasts interbedded with episodes with black pebbles. Subsequently, a more restricted intra-platform environment is represented by oncoidal rudstones with benthic foraminifera, photophilic microencrusters, microbial-type coatings, mud mounds and a rich record of epibenthic biota preserved in life position (diceratid patches, stromatoporoids, and a diverse coral assemblage). This association points to relatively stable and restrictive low-energy conditions in a proximal shallow-water subtidal environment below the fair-weather wave base. Distally, a deeper, opener setting is established. Here, phaceloid and thin-laminated corals are preserved in life position in a calpionellid-rich matrix typifying a mesophotic reefal complex with clear open marine influence. Biostratigraphical analysis performed mainly on benthic foraminifera, algae, diceratids, and coral representatives allows to specify a Berriasian age for these facies. New occurrence data are also reported, such as the oldest record of the coral genus Floriastrea worldwide. The highly diverse coral assemblages reveal a species-level taxonomic divergence in relation with taxa from the same biochore and palaeogeographical domain, supporting the endemic condition for this fauna. The first report of diceratids in the Eastern Prebetic around the J/C transition evokes Heterodiceras as possible precursor of the Cretaceous rudist build-ups developed in the Urgonian platforms in the Prebetic Domain.This research is a contribution to the P18-RT-4074 project, and to the Research Group VIGROB-167 (University of Alicante)

Early Jurassic brachiopods from northern Spain in the Jiménez de Cisneros collection

Se actualizan sistemáticamente las especies de braquiópodos del Jurásico Inferior procedentes de varias localidades del N y NE de España alojados en la colección Jiménez de Cisneros, refiriéndolas a contextos actualmente contrastados, dotándolas así de un conveniente marco lito- y cronoestratigráfico. Se encuentran representados especímenes de la Rama Castellana y Aragonesa de la Cordillera Ibérica, Asturias, Pirineos y la Cordillera costera Catalana. La actualización ha permitido identificar 18 especies distintas desde el Sinemuriense al Aaleniense basal, contextualizándolas y comparándolas paleobiogeográficamente con el conjunto de plataformas que ocupaban los paleomárgenes de la Subplaca Ibérica durante el Jurásico Inferior.Early Jurassic brachiopods from several localities in North and Northeast Spain housed in the Jiménez de Cisneros historical collection have been updated.These specimens have been referred to nowadays widely recognized geological settings in the Iberian Peninsula, thus providing a lithological and cronostratigraphical context. As a results of this updating, eighteen species were identified derived from the Castilian and Aragonese branches of the Iberian Range as well as Asturias, Pyrenees and the Coastal Catalan Range. These species are dated in the Sinemurian-earliest Aalenian timespan and they have been paleobiogeographically settled and compared within the platforms system existing in the Early Jurassic Iberian paleomargins.Este trabajo se ha realizado bajo el marco del grupo de investigación VIGROB-167 (Universidad Alicante) y de los proyectos CGL2011-25894 y CGL2011-23947 del MICINN

Evolution of the last koninckinids (Athyridida, Koninckinidae), a precursor signal of the early Toarcian mass extinction event in the Western Tethys

Koninckinids are a suitable group to shed light on the biotic crisis suffered by brachiopod fauna in the Early Jurassic. Koninckinid fauna recorded in the late Pliensbachian–early Toarcian from the easternmost Subbetic basin is analyzed and identified as a precursor signal for one of the most conspicuous mass extinction events of the Phylum Brachiopoda, a multi-phased interval with episodes of changing environmental conditions, whose onset can be detected from the Elisa–Mirabile subzones up to the early Toarcian extinction boundary in the lowermost Serpentinum Zone (T-OAE). The koninckinid fauna had a previously well-established migration pattern from the intra-Tethyan to the NW-European basins but a first phase with a progressive warming episode in the Pliensbachian–Toarcian transition triggered a koninckinid fauna exodus from the eastern/central Tethys toward the westernmost Mediterranean margins. A second stage shows an adaptive response to more adverse conditions in the westernmost Tethyan margins and finally, an escape and extinction phase is detected in the Atlantic areas from the mid-Polymorphum Zone onwards up to their global extinction in the lowermost Serpentinum Zone. This migration pattern is independent of the paleogeographic bioprovinciality and is unrelated to a facies-controlled pattern. The anoxic/suboxic environmental conditions should only be considered as a minor factor of partial control since well-oxygenated habitats are noted in the intra-Tethyan basins and this factor is noticeable only in the second westward migratory stage (with dwarf taxa and oligotypical assemblages). The analysis of cold-seep proxies in the Subbetic deposits suggests a radiation that is independent of methane releases in the Subbetic basin.This research is a contribution to the projects CGL2011-25894 and CGL2011-23947 (Ministry of Science and Innovation, Government of Spain) and to the Research Group VIGROB-167 (University of Alicante)