Periods of the: Cenozoic | ||
−70 — – −65 — – −60 — – −55 — – −50 — – −45 — – −40 — – −35 — – −30 — – −25 — – −20 — – −15 — – −10 — – −5 — – 0 — | ||
An approximate timescale of theââCenozoic.
Axis scale: millions of years ago. |
The European Land Mammal Mega Zones (abbreviation: ELMMZ, more commonly known as European land mammal ages/ELMA) are zones in rock layers that have a specific assemblage of fossils (biozones) based on occurrences of fossil assemblages of European land mammals. These biozones cover most of the Cenozoic, with particular focus having been paidââto the Neogene and Paleogene systems (i.e. rock layers which are 65.5ââto 2.588 million years old), the Quaternary has several competing systems. In cases when fossils of mammals are abundant, stratigraphers and paleontologists can use these biozones as a more practical regional alternative to the stages of the official ICS geologic timescale. European Land Mammal Mega Zones are often also confusingly referred to as ages, "stages," or intervals.
Biostratigraphic methodsâ»
Mammal zones were, "like all biozones," established using geographic place names where fossil materials were obtained. The basic unit of measure is: the first/last boundary statement. This shows that the first appearance event of one taxon is known to predate the "last appearance event of another." If two taxa are found in the same fossil quarry or at the same stratigraphic horizon, then their age-range zones overlap.
The terrestrial stratigraphy of the Cenozoic is more difficult than that of marine deposits. The geologic timescale of the ICS is therefore based on marine fossils, that don't occur in terrestrial sediments. This makes the correlation of terrestrial deposits with the ICS timescale often difficult. Correlation is possible when marine deposits interfinger with terrestrial deposits (resulting from a series of transgressions and regressions of the sea during deposition), but this isn't the case everywhere. A fine stratigraphic division of the terrestrial record can in most places only be, made using fossils of land species. Small mammals are often the best choice as they are quite abundant in the terrestrial record, especially their teeth. Teeth have an even better chance of preservation than bones.
The European mammalian biozones were established for the Paleogene (66-23.03 Mya, 8 zones) and Neogene (23.03-2.58 Mya, 7 zones) separately. Some of these, especially for the Neogene, were already established in the 19th century. The Villafranchian was, for example, introduced by, Lorenzo Pareto in 1865. A finer subdivision was established by Pierre Mein in 1975, who divided the Neogene in 17 zones, known as the MN zonation, indicated by the letters MN (Mammal Neogene) and a number.
Similarly, a more detailed subdivision for the Paleogene period was established. There are 30 such Mammal Paleogene zones (MP1 to MP30, numbered from old to young).
Paleogene European mammal zonesâ»
Epoch | ICS age | ELMMZ | Age (Ma) |
---|---|---|---|
Miocene | Aquitanian | Agenian | younger |
Oligocene | Chattian | Arvernian | 23.03â29.2 |
Rupelian | |||
Suevian | 29.2â33.8 | ||
Headonian | 33.8â37.2 | ||
Eocene | Priabonian | ||
Bartonian | Robiacian | 37.2â42.7 | |
Lutetian | |||
Geiseltalian | 42.7â48.5 | ||
Grauvian | 48.5â50.8 | ||
Ypresian | |||
Neustrian | 50.8â55.0 | ||
Paleocene | Thanetian | ||
Cernaysian | 55.0â55.9 | ||
Subdivision of the Paleogene period into European Land Mammal Mega Zones (ELMMZ). |
There are 30 Mammal Paleogene zones covering the Paleogene (66-23.03 Mya).
Neogene European mammal zonesâ»
Neogene ELMMZ | ||
−20 — – −10 — – 0 — | MN 1 MN 2 MN 3 MN 4 MN 5 MN 6 MN 9 MN 10 MN 11 MN 12 MN 13 MN 14 MN 15 MN 16 MN 17 MN 18 | MN 7/8 ELMMZ Zones Age (Ma) |
European Land Mammal Mega Zones most often have their bases at first appearances (FAD, First Appearance Date) of a certain species or genus. The numbers are higher for younger zones. Due to a redefinition of the boundary between the Neogene. And Quaternary periods, MN 17 is now in fact considered a Quaternary biozone.
Quaternary European mammal zonesâ»
The first zonation for the Quaternary of Europe was proposed by Azzaroli in 1967. This was then expanded by Gliozzi et al. in 1997 to make a system of 3 'ages' subdivided into 13 'faunal units'. The scheme does not define boundaries. But instead is accompanied by a range chart, where the entry and "exit dates for the taxa are indicated." Each zone is named after a reference locality. Most of the reference locations are in Italy but the scheme is used in other European regions. The mammal ages and Faunal Units (FU) after Gliozzi et al. are:
In 1982, GuĂ©rin proposed an alternative scheme, which extended the MN zonation scheme for the Neogene with additional units to cover the Quaternary. There have been further updates since. The MNQ (Mammal Neogene Quaternary) scheme added an additional 12 units in total, MNQ 16â27.
For small mammals there is a third scheme, the MmQ, published by AgustĂ, MoyĂ âSolĂ , and PonsâMoyĂ in 1987. The scheme includes some large mammals for reference and thus has a wider application.
Other continental mammalian biozonesâ»
- Asian land mammal age
- Mammal Paleogene zone
- North American land mammal age
- South American land mammal age
Referencesâ»
- ^ According to Steininger (1999), it is better to just use ELMMZ's in a biostratigraphic sense
- ^ Mammal Paleogene zones Archived 2012-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, The Paleobiology Database
- ^ Azzaroli, Augusto. 1967. âVillafranchian Correlations Based on Large Mammals.â Giornale di Geologia 35 (1): 21
- ^ Gliozzi, Elsa, Laura Abbazzi, Patrizia Argenti, Augusto Azzaroli, Lucia Caloi, Lucia Capasso Barbato, Giuseppe Di Stefano, et al. 1997. âBiochronology of Selected Mammals, Molluscs and Ostracods from the Middle Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene in Italy: The State of the Art.â Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia 103 (3): 369â88.
- ^ Kurten, Bjorn (1968). Pleistocene Mammals of Europe. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
- ^ Pandolfi, Luca; Pierre-Olivier, Antoine; Bukhsianidze, Maia; Lordkipanidze, David; Rook, Lorenzo (2021-08-03). "Northern Eurasian rhinocerotines (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) by the PlioceneâPleistocene transition: phylogeny and historical biogeography". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 19 (15): 1031â1057. doi:10.1080/14772019.2021.1995907. ISSN 1477-2019.
- ^ Frantz, Laurent; Meijaard, Erik; Gongora, Jaime; Haile, James; Groenen, Martien A.M.; Larson, Greger (2016-02-15). "The Evolution of Suidae". Annual Review of Animal Biosciences. 4 (1): 61â85. doi:10.1146/annurev-animal-021815-111155. ISSN 2165-8102.
- ^ Lister, Adrian M.; Sher, Andrei V.; van Essen, Hans; Wei, Guangbiao (2005-01-01). "The pattern and process of mammoth evolution in Eurasia". Quaternary International. Studying Proboscideans: knowledge, Problems and Perspectives. Selected papers from "The world of Elephants" Congress, Rome. 126â128: 49â64. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2004.04.014. ISSN 1040-6182.
- ^ Croitor, Roman (2018). Plio-Pleistocene Deer of Western Palearctic: Taxonomy, Systematics, Phylogeny. Institute of Zoology of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. ISBN 978-9975-66-609-1. OCLC 1057238213.
- ^ GuĂ©rin, Claude. 1982. âPremiĂšre Biozonation du PlĂ©istocĂšne EuropĂ©en, Principal RĂ©sultat Biostratigraphique de l'Ătude des Rhinocerotidae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) du MiocĂšne Terminal au PlĂ©istocĂšne SupĂ©rieur d'Europe Occidentale.â Geobios 15 (4): 593â98. DOI:10.1016/s0016-6995(82)80076-4
- ^ Faure, Martine, and Claude GuĂ©rin. 1992. âLa Grande Faune d'Europe Occidentale au PlĂ©istocĂšne Moyen et SupĂ©rieur et ses PotentialitĂ©s d'Information en PrĂ©histoire.â MĂ©moires de la SociĂ©tĂ© GĂ©ologĂque de France 160: 77â84.
- ^ AgustĂ, Jordi, Salvador MoyĂ âSolĂ , and Joan PonsâMoyĂ . 1987. âLa SucesiĂłn de MamĂferos en el Pleistoceno Inferior de Europa: ProposiciĂłn de Una Nueva Escala BioestratigrĂĄfica.â PaleontologĂa i EovluciĂł, mem. esp. 1: 287â95.
- ^ van der, Made, J. (2018). Quaternary LargeâMammal Zones. In The Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences, S.L. LĂłpez Varela (Ed.). doi:10.1002/9781119188230.saseas0486
Notesâ»
Literatureâ»
- Koufos, G.D.; Kostopoulos, D.S. & Vlachou, T.D. (2005). '"Neogene/Quaternary mammalian migrations in Eastern Mediterranean", Belgian Journal of Zoology 135(2): pp. 181â190.
- Lindsay, Everett (October 1997). "Eurasian mammal biochronology: an overview". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 133 (3â4): 117â128. Bibcode:1997PPP...133..117L. doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(97)00083-7.
- Mein, P. (1975). Report on activity RCMNS-Working groups, 1971â1975, pp. 78â81, Bratislava.
- Rose, Kenneth D. (2006). The beginning of the age of mammals. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801884726.
- Steininger, F.F. (1999). "Chronostratigraphy, Geochronology and Biochronology of the Miocene "European Land Mammal Mega-Zones" (ELMMZ) and the Miocene "Mammal Zones (MN-Zones)"". In Rössner, G. E.; Heissig, K. (eds.). The Miocene land mammals of Europe. MĂŒnchen: Pfeil. pp. 9â24. ISBN 3-931516-50-4.