Taxa dedicated to Alberto C. Riccardi

Dr. Alberto Riccardi has greatly impacted in the advance of palaeontological and geological knowledge in several areas of the world, particularly in LatinAmerica. As a token of appreciation to his outstanding career, contributions, and positive influence, he has been recognized in several instances with the dedication of taxa bearing his name. His former mentor, several of his former students, and colleagues are among the people that have dedicated scientific names to him. This brief contribution summarizes the taxa and the circumstances related to each genus and species dedicated to Dr. Riccardi of which the authors are aware.Fil: Macellari, Carlos E.. Repsol Exploración; EspañaFil: Damborenea, Susana Ester. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleozoología Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Manceñido, Miguel Oscar. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleozoología Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Comprehensive database on Induan (Lower Triassic) to Sinemurian (Lower Jurassic) marine bivalve genera and their paleobiogeographic record

Marine bivalve genera that were described or mentioned for Triassic and Lower Jurassic deposits worldwide are reviewed in terms of their validity, stratigraphic range, paleogeographic distribution, paleoautecology, and shell mineralogy. Data were originally compiled at species level and are arranged systematically. A brief discussion for each genus includes synonymy, taxonomic status, and included subgenera, as well as current uncertainties about their validity and range. The distribution of each genus is also shown on paleogeographic maps. Type species and first and last appearances of each genus are also mentioned. We recognize as valid 281 genera and their included subgenera, and we further discuss 148 genera (arranged alphabetically) that were mentioned for the study interval but are not included for different reasons. The purpose of this paper is to provide an updated critical assessment of all available basic information for each genus, in order to obtain a sound database to study the generic paleodiversity of marine bivalves in the time interval from the Induan (Early Triassic) to the Sinemurian (Early Jurassic). This was a critical time for bivalve evolution and diversification, which began with the recovery from the Permian¿Triassic extinction and ended with the recovery from the Triassic¿Jurassic extinction

Taxa dedicated to Alberto C. Riccardi

Dr. Alberto Riccardi has greatly impacted in the advance of palaeontological and geological knowledge in several areas of the world, particularly in LatinAmerica. As a token of appreciation to his outstanding career, contributions, and positive influence, he has been recognized in several instances with the dedication of taxa bearing his name. His former mentor, several of his former students, and colleagues are among the people that have dedicated scientific names to him. This brief contribution summarizes the taxa and the circumstances related to each genus and species dedicated to Dr. Riccardi of which the authors are aware.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

De extinción en extinción: la vida se reinventa una y otra vez

Episodios de extinción y recuperación que afectaron el desarrollo de la vida en la Tierra, cada uno extendido por lapsos de millones de años, más largos que la historia completa de la especie humana. Se ilustran mediante ejemplos del registro fósil marino del Mesozoico temprano, centrándonos en los invertebrados marinos del tiempo que transcurrió entre el fin del Pérmico y el del Jurásico temprano, es decir, entre hace unos 252 y 174 Ma. Los fósiles encontrados en el actual territorio argentino, en sitios que entonces estuvieron bajo el mar, aportan información útil para analizar este lapso de tiempo que contiene dos de las grandes extinciones señaladas y también una menor

Population response during an Oceanic Anoxic Event: The case of Posidonotis (Bivalvia) from the Lower Jurassic of the Neuquén Basin, Argentina

Benthonic marine species show a wide range of biological reactions to seawater chemical changes through time, from subtle adjustments to extinction. The Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE) was recently recognized in the Neuquén Basin, Argentina, confirming its global scope. The event was identified chemostratigraphically on the basis of a relative increase in marine organic carbon and a characteristic negative carbonisotope excursion (δ13Corg) in bulk rock and fossil wood in the upper Pliensbachian-lower Toarcian interval in the Arroyo Lapa section (Neuquén). Simultaneously with collection of lithological samples, a high-resolution biostratigraphical survey was carried out, and the scarce benthonic fauna was collected in order to check the biotic response to changing marine geochemical conditions. We present here an analysis of size and abundance data from the T-OAE interval in the Neuquén Basin for the dominant bivalve species, the paper-clam Posidonotis cancellata (Leanza), and relate these data to geochemical proxies (%TOC and δ13Corg) obtained at the same locality. The abundance of P. cancellata increased when the rest of the benthos diminished, reaching a maximum at the onset level of the T-OAE, and then decreasing. Size-frequency distributions show a noteworthy lack of juvenile shells. Shell size shows a positive correlation with %TOC in the whole section, though over the T-OAE interval proper, it decreases below the level where the maximum %TOC value is attained and increases above it. Posidonotis cancellata shows features of opportunistic species, such as high tolerance to hypoxia, strong dominance in impoverished environments and a strong dependence on primary productivity, but at the same time had a reproductive strategy more similar to equilibrium species, with relatively low juvenile mortality rates. Several anatomical features suggest adaptation to permanently dysaerobic environments. The species disappeared just before the minimum negative carbon-isotope value was reached; and by the same time the genus became extinct worldwide

New age constraints on the Lower Jurassic Pliensbachian–Toarcian Boundary at Chacay Melehue (Neuquén Basin, Argentina)

The Pliensbachian–Toarcian boundary interval is characterized by a ~ 3‰ negative carbon-isotope excursion (CIE) in organic and inorganic marine and terrestrial archives from sections in Europe, such as Peniche (Portugal) and Hawsker Bottoms, Yorkshire (UK). A new high-resolution organic-carbon isotope record, illustrating the same chemostratigraphic feature, is presented from the Southern Hemisphere Arroyo Chacay Melehue section, Chos Malal, Argentina, corroborating the global significance of this disturbance to the carbon cycle. The negative carbon-isotope excursion, mercury and organic-matter enrichment are accompanied by high-resolution ammonite and nannofossil biostratigraphy together with U–Pb CA-ID-TIMS geochronology derived from intercalated volcanic ash beds. A new age of ~ 183.73 + 0.35/− 0.50 Ma for the Pliensbachian–Toarcian boundary, and 182.77 + 0.11/− 0.15 for the tenuicostatum–serpentinum zonal boundary, is assigned based on high-precision U–Pb zircon geochronology and a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) stratigraphic age model

REVISIÓN DE LOS BIOCOREMAS MARINOS GLOBALES DEL JURÁSICO SEGÚN LA DISTRIBUCIÓN DE LOS MOLUSCOS BIVALVOS

Numerosos trabajos regionales o locales han propuesto el reconocimiento de unidades biogeográficas de distintos rangos (biocoremas) basadas sobre la distribución de los moluscos bivalvos para el Jurásico, pero no existía una síntesis a nivel mundial. Este trabajo es una revisión de las más significativas de esas propuestas, en un intento de lograr una síntesis de los patrones biogeográficos globales desde el Jurásico Temprano al Tardío, mientras se producían cambios sustanciales en la paleogeografía de la Tierra y los patrones de circulación oceánica como resultado de la disgregación de Pangea. Se hace también un breve análisis de la evolución en el tiempo y el espacio de cada una de las principales unidades reconocidas y de sus relaciones. Estos biocoremas pueden agruparse en tres unidades de primer orden que han tenido continuidad en el tiempo: Boreal, Tethys y Austral. Las unidades revisadas aquí han sido reconocidas y caracterizadas de forma muy heterogénea por los distintos autores, pero los criterios básicos más utilizados incluyen desde el grado de endemismo y la diversidad relativa, hasta las afinidades paleobiogeográficas de los taxones a nivel genérico. Los patrones de distribución de los bivalvos jurásicos no solamente son claves para entender cuestiones puramente biogeográficas, sino que han sido utilizados como argumento y evidencia en discusiones de índole paleogeográfica (como el establecimiento de corredores oceánicos, o patrones de circulación marina superficial), e incluso son pruebas de peso para la discusión de tópicos paleotectónicos, como la localización de terrenos desplazados y la deriva continental

Biofacies analysis of Hettangian-Sinemurian bivalve/brachiopod associations from the Neuquén Basin (Argentina)

Based upon extensive sampling with strict stratigraphical control on Hettangian and Sinemurian deposits cropping out at the river Atuel region (southwest Mendoza Province), the presence of all bivalve and brachiopod genera was recorded. Data gathered from the analysed interval were processed by multivariate analysis and the resulting Q-mode dendrogram was used to discriminate five associations (i.e. Entolium-limoids, Pholadomya-Pinna-Pleuromya, Weyla-Gryphaea, Lywea and Cardinioides). These are not in simple stratigraphical succession but are recurrent, reflecting palaeosynecological and biofacies influences. The palaeoenvironmental implications of these associations are analysed, as well as their geographical and stratigraphical distributions in the studied sections (Arroyo Malo, El Pedrero and Las Chilcas). The Cardinioides association is controlled by palaeosalinity and corresponds to a paralic/estuarine environment, of restricted geographical and stratigraphical distribution, whereas the remaining associations correspond to normal marine shelf to littoral environments. The Lywea association is interpreted as allochthonous and probably an impoverished subset derived from the diverse Weyla-Gryphaea association. On the basis of the palaeoautecological characteristics of the taxa involved in terms of guilds represented in these benthonic associations, it is concluded that most of the associations were dominated by the epifauna, whereas in the Pholadomya-Pinna-Pleuromya association the infauna and semi-infauna were particularly conspicuous and diverse, and the Cardinioides association was characterized by shallow infauna. Typical basinal biofacies from deeper, off-shore environments, and fresh-water biofacies, are both missing

Biofacies analysis of Hettangian-Sinemurian bivalve/brachiopod associations from the Neuquén Basin (Argentina)

Based upon extensive sampling with strict stratigraphical control on Hettangian and Sinemurian deposits cropping out at the river Atuel region (southwest Mendoza Province), the presence of all bivalve and brachiopod genera was recorded. Data gathered from the analysed interval were processed by multivariate analysis and the resulting Q-mode dendrogram was used to discriminate five associations (i.e. Entolium-limoids, Pholadomya-Pinna-Pleuromya, Weyla-Gryphaea, Lywea and Cardinioides). These are not in simple stratigraphical succession but are recurrent, reflecting palaeosynecological and biofacies influences. The palaeoenvironmental implications of these associations are analysed, as well as their geographical and stratigraphical distributions in the studied sections (Arroyo Malo, El Pedrero and Las Chilcas). The Cardinioides association is controlled by palaeosalinity and corresponds to a paralic/estuarine environment, of restricted geographical and stratigraphical distribution, whereas the remaining associations correspond to normal marine shelf to littoral environments. The Lywea association is interpreted as allochthonous and probably an impoverished subset derived from the diverse Weyla-Gryphaea association. On the basis of the palaeoautecological characteristics of the taxa involved in terms of guilds represented in these benthonic associations, it is concluded that most of the associations were dominated by the epifauna, whereas in the Pholadomya-Pinna-Pleuromya association the infauna and semi-infauna were particularly conspicuous and diverse, and the Cardinioides association was characterized by shallow infauna. Typical basinal biofacies from deeper, off-shore environments, and fresh-water biofacies, are both missing