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Larger foraminifera as a substratum for encrusting bryozoans (Late Oligocene, Tethyan Seaway, Iran)

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Abstract

Considering the diversity and abundance of larger foraminifera examined from a wide range of Late Oligocene to Early Miocene palaeoenvironments in the Tethyan Seaway, encrusting bryozoans make extremely little use of their tests as substratum. Significant encrustations by bryozoans were exclusively found on large (ø c. 6 cm), undulating tests of Lepidocyclina spp., on which, however, a remarkable 34 taxa of encrusting bryozoans were recorded. This shallow-water fauna of Chattian age was analyzed in respect of the bryozoan taxa present, colony growth type, and mode of budding, colony size, as well as onset of reproduction. Taxic and morphological similarities between the fossil assemblage and modern faunas encrusting mobile substrata indicate a long history of bryozoans as part of the interstitial habitat, while the tests of certain larger foraminifera may have played a significant role in the evolution of shallow-water bryozoans by providing substrata for encrusting species in otherwise unfavorable environments.

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Acknowledgments

The larger foraminifera were determined by Ulrike Wielandt-Schuster (Landesamt für Geologie, Freiburg). We thank Willem Renema (Naturalis, Leiden) and Elza Yordanova (Universität Wien) for discussions on larger foraminifera, and Davide Bassi as well as two anonymous reviewers for constructive criticism on the manuscript. This work was supported by the Austrian Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF: P11886-GEO, P18189) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG: STE 857/1-1; NE 537/1-1, -2).

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  1. B. Berning

    Present address: Oberösterreichische Landesmuseen, Geowissenschaftliche Sammlungen, Welserstr. 20, 4060, Linz-Leonding, Austria

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Erdwissenschaften, Universität Graz, Heinrichstr. 26, 8010, Graz, Austria

    B. Berning, M. Reuter & W. E. Piller

  2. Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Burgring 7, 1010, Vienna, Austria

    M. Harzhauser & A. Kroh

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  1. B. Berning
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Correspondence to B. Berning.

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Berning, B., Reuter, M., Piller, W.E. et al. Larger foraminifera as a substratum for encrusting bryozoans (Late Oligocene, Tethyan Seaway, Iran). Facies 55, 227–241 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-008-0169-x

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