The marine biodiversity impact of the Late Miocene Mediterranean salinity crisis
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Publication date
2024-08-29
Authors
Agiadi, Konstantina
Hohmann, Niklas
Gliozzi, Elsa
Thivaiou, Danae
Bosellini, Francesca R
Taviani, Marco
Bianucci, Giovanni
Collareta, Alberto
Londeix, Laurent
Faranda, Costanza
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Article
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Abstract
Massive salt accumulations, or salt giants, have formed in highly restricted marine basins throughout geological history, but their impact on biodiversity has been only patchily studied. The salt giant in the Mediterranean Sea formed as a result of the restriction of its gateway to the Atlantic during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) 5.97 to 5.33 million years ago. Here, we quantify the biodiversity changes associated with the MSC based on a compilation of the Mediterranean fossil record. We conclude that 86 endemic species of the 2006 pre-MSC marine species survived the crisis, and that the present eastward-decreasing richness gradient in the Mediterranean was established after the MSC.
Keywords
Animals, Aquatic Organisms, Biodiversity, Extinction, Biological, Fossils, Mediterranean Sea, Salinity, Seawater, Taverne
Citation
Agiadi, K, Hohmann, N, Gliozzi, E, Thivaiou, D, Bosellini, F R, Taviani, M, Bianucci, G, Collareta, A, Londeix, L, Faranda, C, Bulian, F, Koskeridou, E, Lozar, F, Mancini, A M, Dominici, S, Moissette, P, Campos, I B, Borghi, E, Iliopoulos, G, Antonarakou, A, Kontakiotis, G, Besiou, E, Zarkogiannis, S D, Harzhauser, M, Sierro, F J, Coll, M, Vasiliev, I, Camerlenghi, A & García-Castellanos, D 2024, 'The marine biodiversity impact of the Late Miocene Mediterranean salinity crisis', Science, vol. 385, no. 6712, pp. 986-991. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp3703