Latest Cretaceous to earliest Paleogene molluscan faunas of New Zealand : changes in composition as a consequence of the break-up of Gondwana and extinction

Stilwell, Jeffrey D.

Uppermost Cretaceous (Campanian?-Maastrichtian) to lowermost Paleogene (Paleocene) rocks of New Zealand contain an exceptional record of Bivalvia, Gastropodia and Scaphopodia. The composition of these faunas is closely linked with the separation of New Zealand from the East Antarctic-Australian sector of Gondwana, development on open oceanic conditions by Early Campanian time (c. 80-85 Ma), and Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary extinctions. This works aims to: 1) document the changes in paleobiogeographic elements (endemic, paleoaustral, Indo-Pacific/Tethyan, and cosmopolitan) of molliscs across the K-T interval; 2) provide a quantitative analysis of the Weddellian Biotic Province hypothesis of Zinsmeister (1979), which has resulted in a refined biogeographic model for the Gondwana Realm; and 3) examine the extent and effect of the terminal Cretaceous extinction event on the Mollusca of New Zealand.

3 v. : col. ill., maps ; 31 cm.

1994Stilwell

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