Late Miocene transformation of Mediterranean Sea biodiversity

Konstantina Agiadi; Niklas Hohmann; Elsa Gliozzi; Danae Thivaiou; Francesca R. Bosellini; Marco Taviani; Giovanni Bianucci; Alberto Collareta; Laurent Londeix; Costanza Faranda; Francesca Bulian; Efterpi Koskeridou; Francesca Lozar; Alan Maria Mancini; Stefano Dominici; Pierre Moissette; Ildefonso Bajo Campos; Enrico Borghi; George Iliopoulos; Assimina Antonarakou; George Kontakiotis; Evangelia Besiou; Stergios D. Zarkogiannis; Mathias Harzhauser; Francisco Javier Sierro; Marta Coll M; Iuliana Vasiliev; Angelo Camerlenghi; Daniel García‐Castellanos

doi:10.1126/sciadv.adp1134

PaleontologyScience AdvancesSep 25, 2024

Peer-reviewed journal article

Late Miocene transformation of Mediterranean Sea biodiversity

Konstantina Agiadi iD, Niklas Hohmann iD, Elsa Gliozzi iD, Danae Thivaiou iD, Francesca R. Bosellini iD, Marco Taviani iD, Giovanni Bianucci iD, Alberto Collareta iD, Laurent Londeix iD, Costanza Faranda iD, Francesca Bulian iD, Efterpi Koskeridou iD, Francesca Lozar iD, Alan Maria Mancini iD, Stefano Dominici iD, Pierre Moissette iD, Ildefonso Bajo Campos iD, Enrico Borghi iD, George Iliopoulos iD, Assimina Antonarakou iD, George Kontakiotis iD, Evangelia Besiou iD, Stergios D. Zarkogiannis iD, Mathias Harzhauser iD, Francisco Javier Sierro iD, , Daniel García‐Castellanos iD

Abstract

Understanding deep-time marine biodiversity change under the combined effects of climate and connectivity changes is fundamental for predicting the impacts of modern climate change in semi-enclosed seas. We quantify the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene (11.63-3.6 Ma) taxonomic diversity of the Mediterranean Sea for calcareous nannoplankton, dinocysts, foraminifera, ostracods, corals, molluscs, bryozoans, echinoids, fishes, and marine mammals. During this time, marine biota was affected by global climate cooling and the restriction of the Mediterraneans connection to the Atlantic Ocean that peaked with the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Although the net change in species richness from the Tortonian to the Zanclean varies by group, species turnover is greater than 30% in all cases. The results show clear perturbation already in the pre-evaporitic Messinian (7.25-5.97 Ma), with patterns differing among groups and sub-basins.

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