Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T05:23:24.135Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How good was the fossil record? Clues from the Californian Pleistocene

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

James W. Valentine
James W. Valentine*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The living members of 113 families of bivalves and gastropods of the Californian Province include 698 species living at shelf depths, of which 538 or 77% are known as Pleistocene fossils from the same region; another 113 fossil species are extralimital, and 98 are extinct. Living species not found as fossils are chiefly rare today, and/or minute, fragile, and/or from deeper shelf habitats. Sampling of the Pleistocene record has been biased towards shallow-water assemblages. Fragile and minute forms are probably underrepresented in the record. Rare forms, however, are still appearing as new studies are conducted, and many rare species are yet to be discovered. At least 85% of durably skeletonized living species may have been captured in the record. It is probable that most durably skeletonized invertebrate species were represented in lithostratigraphic units throughout the Phanerozoic, but that this record is lost owing to erosion, burial, and destruction of skeletons in situ. The bulk of the marine invertebrate fossil record does not represent a series of unusual skeletal accumulations, but rather the preserved remnants of an excellent original record formed through ordinary though episodic processes.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , Spring 1989 , pp. 83 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Addicott, W. O. 1964. Pleistocene invertebrates from the Dume terrace, western Santa Monica Mountains, California. Bulletin, Southern California Academy of Science 63:141–150.Google Scholar
Anders, M. H., Kruger, S. W., and Sadler, P. M. 1987. A new look at sedimentation rates and the completeness of the stratigraphic record. Journal of Geology 95:1–14.Google Scholar
Bailey, T. L. 1935. Lateral change of fauna in the Lower Pleistocene. Geological Society of America Bulletin 46:489–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, T. L. 1954. Geology of the western Ventura Basin, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles Counties. Map Sheet 4. In Jahns, R. H. (ed.), Geology of Southern California. California Division of Mines Bulletin 170.Google Scholar
Bernard, F. R. 1983. Catalogue of the living Bivalvia of the eastern Pacific Ocean: Bering Strait to Cape Horn. Canadian Special Publication in Fisheries and Aquatic Science 61.Google Scholar
Bishop, M. J., and Bishop, S. J. 1972. New records of Pleistocene marine Mollusca from Pacific Beach, San Diego, California. Veliger 15:6.Google Scholar
Burch, J. Q. (ed.) 1944-46. Distributional list of the west American marine mollusks from San Diego, California to the Polar Sea. Minutes, Conchological Club of Southern California 30–63.Google Scholar
Cadée, G. C. 1968. Molluscan biocoenoses and thanatocoenoses in the Rio de Asosa, Galicia, Spain. Zoologische Verhandelingen 95:1–121.Google Scholar
CLIMAP Project Members. 1984. The last interglacial ocean. Quaternary Research 21:123–124.Google Scholar
Coan, E. V. 1971. The northwest American Tellinidae. Veliger 14(Suppl.):1–63.Google Scholar
Coan, E. V. 1973a. The northwest American Semelidae. Veliger 15:314–329.Google Scholar
Coan, E. V. 1973b. The northwest American Psammobiidae. Veliger 16:40–57.Google Scholar
Coan, E. V. 1973c. The northwest American Donacidae. Veliger 16:130–139.Google Scholar
Coan, E. V. 1977. Preliminary review of the northwest American Carditidae. Veliger 19:375–386.Google Scholar
Coan, E. V. 1979. Recent eastern Pacific species of the crassa-tellid bivalve genus Crassinella. Veliger 22:1–11.Google Scholar
Crowley, K. D. 1984. Filtering of depositional events and the completeness of sedimentary sequences. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 54:127–136.Google Scholar
Cummins, R. H., Powell, E. N., Stanton, R. J. Jr., and Staff, G. 1986a. The rate of taphonomic loss in modern benthic habitats: how much of the potentially preservable community is preserved? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 52:291–320.Google Scholar
Cummins, R. H., Powell, E. N., Stanton, R. J. Jr., and Staff, G. 1986b. The size-frequency distribution in palaeoecology: effects of taphonomic processes during formation of molluscan death assemblages in Texas bays. Palaeontology 29:495–518.Google Scholar
Dall, W. H. 1921. Summary of the marine shell-bearing mollusks of the northwest coast of America, from San Diego, California to the Polar Sea. United States National Museum Bulletin 112:1–217.Google Scholar
Dalrymple, G. B. 1980. K-Ar ages of the Friant Pumice Member of the Turlock Lake Formation, the Bishop Tuff, and the tuff of Red's Meadow, central California. Isochron/West 28:3–5.Google Scholar
Darwin, C. R. 1859. On the Origin of Species. John Murray; London.Google Scholar
Dushane, H. 1979. The family Epitoniidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in the northeastern Pacific. Veliger 22:91–134.Google Scholar
Emerson, W. K. 1960. Pleistocene invertebrates from near Punta San Jose, Baja California, Mexico. American Museum Novitates 2002:1–7.Google Scholar
Fürsich, F. T., and Flessa, K. W. 1987. Taphonomy of tidal flat molluscs in the northern Gulf of California: paleoenvironmental analysis despite the perils of preservation. Palaios 2:543–559.Google Scholar
Gilluly, J. 1949. Distribution of mountain building in geologic time. Geological Society of America Bulletin 60:561–590.Google Scholar
Grau, G. 1959. Pectinidae of the eastern Pacific. Allan Hancock Foundation Pacific Expedition 23:1–308.Google Scholar
Izett, G. A. 1981. Volcanic ash beds: recorders of upper Cenozoic silicic pyroclastic volcanism in the western United States. Journal of Geophysical Research 86:10200–10222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Izett, G. A., Naeser, C. W., and Obradovich, J. D. 1974. Fission-track age of zircons from an ash bed in the Pico formation (Pliocene and Pleistocene) near Ventura, California. Geological Society of America abstracts with Programs, Cordilleran Section:610.Google Scholar
Jackson, P. A., and Yeats, R. S. 1982. Structural evolution of Carpinteria Basin, western Transverse Ranges, California. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 66:805–829.Google Scholar
Johnson, R. G. 1960. Models and methods for the analysis of the mode of formation of fossil assemblages. Geological Society of America Bulletin 71:1075–1086.Google Scholar
Kanakoff, G. P., and Emerson, W. K. 1959. Late Pleistocene invertebrates of the Newport Bay area, California. Los Angeles County Museum, Contributions to Science 31.Google Scholar
Kaufman, A., Broecker, W. S., Ku, T. L., and D. L. Thurber. 1971. The status of U-series methods of mollusc dating. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 35:1155–1183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keen, A. M. 1971. Sea Shells of Tropical West America. Stanford University Press; Stanford, California.Google Scholar
Kennedy, G. L. 1974. West American Cenozoic Pholadidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia). San Diego Society of Natural History Memoir 8.Google Scholar
Kennedy, G. L. 1975. Paleontologic record of areas adjacent to the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors, Los Angeles County, California. Pp. 1–119. In Soule, D. F., and Oguri, M. (eds.), Marine Studies of San Pedro Bay, California, Part 9, Paleontology. Allan Hancock Foundation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Kennedy, G. L. 1978. Pleistocene Paleoecology, Zoogeography and Geochronology of Marine Invertebrate Faunas of the Pacific Northwest Coast (San Francisco Bay to Puget Sound). Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Davis. Davis, California.Google Scholar
Kennedy, G. L., and J. F. Wehmiller. 1986. Paleoclimatic implications of Quaternary marine invertebrate faunas from southwestern Santa Barbara County, California. Western Society of Malacologists, Annual Report 18:22–23.Google Scholar
Kennedy, G. L., Lajoie, K. R., and Wehmiller, J. F. 1982. Aminostratigraphy and faunal correlations of late Quaternary marine terraces, Pacific Coast, USA. Nature 299:545–547.Google Scholar
Kennedy, G. L., Rockwell, T. K., Wehmiller, J. F., and Suarez, F. 1986. Pleistocene molluscan paleogeography and terrace correlation, northwestern Baja California, Mexico. Geological Society of America abstracts with Programs 18:124.Google Scholar
Kennedy, G. L., Muhs, D. R., Wehmiller, J. F., and Rockwell, T. K. 1987. Comparative zoogeography of early and late stage 5 terrace faunas, southern California and northern Baja California, Mexico. International Union of Quaternary Research, XII International Congress, Programme with Abstracts:200.Google Scholar
Kern, J. P. 1971. Paleoenvironmental analysis of a late Pleistocene estuary in southern California. Journal of Paleontology 45:810–823.Google Scholar
Kern, J. P. 1977. Origin and history of upper Pleistocene marine terraces, San Diego, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin 88:1553–1566.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kern, J. P., Stump, T. E., and Dowlen, R. J. 1971. An Upper Pleistocene marine fauna from Mission Bay, San Diego, California. San Diego Society of Natural History, Transactions 16:329–338.Google Scholar
Kidwell, S. M. 1982. Time scales of fossil accumulation: patterns from Miocene benthic assemblages. Proceedings, Third North American Paleontological Convention 1:295–300.Google Scholar
Koch, C. F. 1987. Prediction of sample size effects on the measured temporal and geographic distribution patterns of species. Paleobiology 13:100–107.Google Scholar
Ku, T.-L., and Kern, J. P. 1974. Uranium-series age of the upper Pleistocene Nestor Terrace, San Diego, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin 85:1713–1716.Google Scholar
Lajoie, K. R., Kern, J. P., Wehmiller, J. F., Kennedy, G. L., Mathieson, S. A., Sarna-Wojcicki, A. M., Yerkes, R. F., and McRory, P. A. 1979. Quaternary marine shorelines and crustal deformation, San Diego to Santa Barbara, California. Pp. 3–15. In Abbott, P. L. (ed.), Geological Excursions in the Southern California Area. San Diego State University; San Diego, California.Google Scholar
Lawrence, D. R. 1968. Taphonomy and information losses in fossil communities. Geological Society of America Bulletin 79:1315–1330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipps, J. H. 1967. Age and environment of a marine terrace fauna, San Clemente Island, California. Veliger 9:388–398.Google Scholar
Lipps, J. H., Valentine, J. W., and Mitchell, E. D. 1968. Pleistocene paleoecology and biostratigraphy, Santa Barbara Island, California. Journal of Paleontology 42:291–307.Google Scholar
MacDonald, K. B. 1976. Paleocommunities: toward some confidence limits. Pp. 87–106. In Scott, R. W., and West, R. R. (eds.), Structure and Classification of Paleocommunities. Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross; Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Marincovich, L. 1976. Late Pleistocene molluscan faunas from upper terraces of the Palos Verdes Hills, California. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Contributions to Science 281.Google Scholar
McKinney, M. L. 1986. Biostratigraphic gap analysis. Geology 14:36–38.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLean, J. H. 1978. Marine Shells of Southern California. Revised Edition. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Science Series 24.Google Scholar
Meade, R. F. 1967. Molluscan Paleoecology of the Fernando Group of the Southern Ventura Basin, California. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles. Los Angeles, California.Google Scholar
Meldahl, K. H. 1987. Sedimentologic and taphonomic implications of biogenic stratification. Palaios 2:350–358.Google Scholar
Miller, A. I. 1988. Spatial resolution in subfossil molluscan remains: implications for paleobiological analysis. Paleobiology 14:91–103.Google Scholar
Muhs, D. R. 1985. Amino acid age estimates of marine terraces and sea levels on San Nicolas Island, California. Geology 13:58–61.Google Scholar
Muhs, D. R., and Kyser, T. K. 1987. Stable isotope compositions of fossil mollusks from southern California: evidence for a cool last interglacial ocean. Geology 15:119–122.Google Scholar
Muhs, D. R., and Rosholt, J. N. 1984. Ages of marine terraces on the Palos Verdes Hills, California, by amino acid and uranium-trend dating. Geological Society of America abstracts with Programs 16:603.Google Scholar
Muhs, D. R., and Szabo, B. J. 1982. Uranium-series age of the Eel Point terrace, San Clemente Island, California. Geology 10:23–26.Google Scholar
Muhs, D. R., Kennedy, G. L., and Miller, G. H. 1987. New uranium-series ages of marine terraces and late Quaternary sea level history, San Nicolas Island, California. Geological Society of America abstracts with Program 19:780–781.Google Scholar
Omura, A., Emerson, W. K., and Ku, T.-L. 1979. Uranium-series ages of echinoids and corals from the upper Pleistocene Magdalena Terrace, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Nautilus 94:184–189.Google Scholar
Orr, P. C. 1960. Late Pleistocene marine terraces on Santa Rose Island, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin 71:1113–1120.Google Scholar
Paul, C. R. C. 1982. The adequacy of the fossil record. Pp. 75–117. In Joysey, K. E., and Friday, A. E. (eds.), Problems of Phylogenetic Reconstruction. Academic Press; New York.Google Scholar
Sadler, P. M. 1981. Sediment accumulation rates and the completeness of stratigraphic sections. Journal of Geology 89:569–584.Google Scholar
Sarna-Wojcicki, A. M., Morrison, S. D., Meyer, C. E., and Hillhouse, J. W. 1987. Correlation of upper Cenozoic tephra layers between sediments of the western United States and eastern Pacific Ocean and comparison with biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic age data. Geological Society of America Bulletin 98:207–223.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schindel, D. E. 1980. Microstratigraphic sampling and the limits of paleontologic resolution. Paleobiology 6:408–426.Google Scholar
Schindel, D. E. 1982. Resolution analysis: a new approach to the gaps in the fossil record. Paleobiology 8:340–353.Google Scholar
Schopf, T. J. M. 1978. Fossilization potential of an intertidal fauna: Friday Harbor, Washington. Paleobiology 4:261–270.Google Scholar
Shackleton, N. J., and Opdyke, N. D. 1973. Oxygen isotope and palaeomagnetic stratigraphy of equatorial Pacific core V28-238: oxygen isotope temperatures and ice volumes on a 105-year and 106-year scale. Quaternary Research 3:39–55.Google Scholar
Shepard, F. P. 1963. Submarine Geology. Second Edition. Harper and Row; New York.Google Scholar
Springer, M., and Lilje, A. 1988. Biostratigraphy and gap analysis: the expected sequence of biostratigraphic events. Journal of Geology 96:228–236.Google Scholar
Stanton, R. J. 1976. Relationships of fossil communities to original communities of living organisms. Pp. 107–142. In Scott, R. W., and West, R. R. (eds.), Structure and Classification of Paleocommunities. Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross; Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Upson, J. E. 1951. Geology and ground-water resources of the south coast basins of Santa Barbara County, California. United State Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1108.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1958. Paleoecologic Molluscan Geography of the Californian Pleistocene. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of California of Los Angeles. Los Angeles, California.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1961. Paleoecologic molluscan geography of the Californian Pleistocene. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 34:309–442.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1962. Pleistocene molluscan notes. 4. Older terrace faunas from Palos Verdes Hills, California. Journal of Geology 70:92–101.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1966. Numerical analysis of marine molluscan ranges on the extra-tropical northeastern Pacific shelf. Limnology and Oceanography 11:198–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1980. Camalu: a Pleistocene terrace fauna from Baja California. Journal of Paleontology 54:1310–1318.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W., and Lipps, J. 1963. Late Cenozoic rocky-shore assemblages from Anacapa Island, California. Journal of Paleontology 37:1292–1302.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W., and Mallory, B. 1965. Recurrent groups of bonded species in mixed death assemblages. Journal of Geology 73:683–701.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W., and Meade, R. F. 1961. Californian Pleistocene paleotemperatures. University of California Publications in Geological Science 40:1–46.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W., and Rowland, R. R. 1969. Pleistocene invertebrates from northwestern Baja California del Norte, Mexico. Proceedings, California Academy of Science, Series 4, 36:511–530.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W., and Veeh, H. H. 1969. Radiometric ages of Pleistocene terraces from San Nicolas Island, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin 80:1415–1418.Google Scholar
Vedder, J. G., and Norris, R. M. 1963. Geology of San Nicolas Island, California. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 369.Google Scholar
Veizer, J., and Jansen, S. L. 1985. Basement and sedimentary recycling—2: Time dimension to global tectonics. Journal of Geology 93:625–643.Google Scholar
Walker, K. R., and Bambach, R. K. 1971. The significance of fossil assemblages from fine-grained sediments: time-averaged communities. Geological Society of America abstracts with Programs 3:783–784.Google Scholar
Warme, J. E. 1971. Paleoecological aspects of a modern coastal lagoon. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 87:1–112.Google Scholar
Warme, J. E., Ekdale, A. A., Ekdale, S. F., and Peterson, C. H. 1976. Raw material of the fossil record. Pp. 143–169. In Scott, R. W., and West, R. R. (eds.), Structure and Classification of Paleocommunities. Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross; Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Wehmiller, J. F., Lajoie, K. R., Kvenvolden, K. A., Peterson, E., Belknap, D. F., Kennedy, G. L., Addicott, W. O., Vedder, J. G., and Wright, R. W. 1977. Correlation and chronology of Pacific coast marine terrace deposits of continental United States by fossil amino acid stereochemistry—technique evaluation, relative ages, kinetic model ages, and geologic implications. United States Geological Survey Open-File Report 77–680.Google Scholar
Williams, C. B. 1964. Patterns in the Balance of Nature. Academic Press; London.Google Scholar
Woodring, W. P., Bramlette, M. N., and Kew, W. S. W. 1946. Geology and paleontology of Palos Verdes Hills, California. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 207.Google Scholar
Wright, R. H. 1972. Late Pleistocene marine fauna, Goleta, California. Journal of Paleontology 46:688–695.Google Scholar
Zinsmeister, W. J. 1974. A new interpretation of thermally anomalous molluscan assemblages of the Californian Pleistocene. Journal of Paleontology 48:84–94.Google Scholar