HOME ASSIGNMENT

GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF OSTRACODA THEIR

IMPORTANCE IN PALAEOBIOGEOGRAPHY

SUBMITTED BY

ANGANA SAIKIA

ROLL NO. 7

MSc 1st SEMESTER

YEAR: 2018
 INTRODUCTION
Ostracods are one of the most diverse groups of living crustaceans, they are the
most abundant of fossil arthropods and are represented by some 33,000 living
and fossil species (Cohen et al. 1998).They are the most useful group of Crustacea
in geological sciences. Indeed, the remains of these small, mostly microscopic,
crustaceans are widely distributed in rocks of all the periods of the Phanerozoic
Era. Beginning in the Cambrian their evolutionary history can be followed with a
completeness exceptional among the crustaceans. This subclass is one of the best
documented groups within the whole animal kingdom due to the most
characteristic feature of their bodies — a bivalve, well-calcified shell which
fossilizes easily.

Ostracods are widely used in biostratigraphy, in determining palaeoenvironments

and palaeoclimates and are indispensable as indicators of ancient shorelines and
plate distributions.
 GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF OSTRACODA
Ostracods have a long and well-documented fossil record from the Ordovician to
the present day; the affinities of putative Cambrian forms are hotly disputed. But
it is now established that ostracoda of archaeocopid kind appeared together with
the trilobites in the early Cambrian, though their origin is not yet known.
Distribution of Ostracoda throughout geologic time is given below:-

Fig. Stratigraphic ranges of some ostracodes.

 A. PALEOZOIC
The ostracodes appeared in the early Cambrian. The bulk of the Cambrian
ostracodes belong to the archeocopids, although rare species assigned tentatively
to the leperditiids were recorded from the late Cambrian.

Ordovician seas witnessed a great expansion of ostracodes. The number of taxa

multiplied and all orders made their appearance at that time.At this time
appeared the first Palaeocopida( both Beyrichicopina and Kloedenellocopina), the
first Podocopida and perhaps the first Myodocopida. The palaeocopida enjoyed
the maximum population and diversity in the Ordovician period.

During the Silurian the beyrichiaceans developed from an eurychilinacean

ancestor. All undisputed members of this group are restricted to the Silurian to
Lower Carboniferous and have been successfully used in biostratigraphy.

Among the important components of Devonian faunas are the hollinaceans,

thlipsuraceans, healdiaceans, bairdiaceans, kloedenellaceans and cytherellaceans .
The Paleozoic ostracoda of great varieties occurred during Devonian and
Carboniferous. The podocopida were as many as they were in the Jurassic period
accompanied by more myodocopids. During this time only the first fresh water
ostracod (Cypridacea) appeared. In the late Devonian time, the leperditicopids
and numerous other Paleozoic genera became extinct.

In Carboniferous and Permian faunas the kirkbyaceans are among the most
characteristic elements. Other important components are the kloedenellaceans,
cytherellaceans, healdiaceans, hollinaceans, and the bairdiaceans.

Some photogrphs of Paleozoic ostracodes are given below –

A. Archeocopids B. Leperditiids C. Myodocopids D. Podocopids

 SOME PALAEOZOIC OSTRACODES

A B

D
 B. MESOZOIC
In the start of Triassic, all the palaeocopida suddenly disappeared. Only a few
podocopids ( Bairdia and Darwinula) could survive the Permo- Triassic boundary.
During these periods the podocopids started dominating all the benthic forms as
a result of which they greatly outnumbered the Metacopina in diversity. The
Platycopina evolved from dwindling Metacopina stock at about this time. Many of
the Jurassic cytheraceans have proved to be good index-fossils owing to their
short geological ranges e.g. Camptocythere.

The Cretaceous assemblages are diverse and dominated by the cytheraceans

which evolved amphidont hinge elements in the late Cretaceous times. The
Paleocene has witnessed a great diversification in their assemblages. The
Pleistocene to Recent taxa added the poorly calcified stock by the appearance of
new myodocopids and cypridaceans. The psychrospheric taxa occupying the
present deep oceanic water zones are thought to have been evolved in the late
Cretaceous times when the Atlantic ocean was developed due to the sea floor
spreading.

Fig. Campocythere
 C. CENOZOIC
Because of their strongly calcified and often richly sculptured valves the
trachyleberidids as well as families derived from them, the cytherettids and the
hemicytherids, are the most important elements of Cenozoic assemblages.
Abyssocythere, Actinocythere, Agrenocythere, Ambocythere, Aurila, Bradleya,
Cnestocythere, Cyprideis, Cytheretta, Cytheridea, Henryhowella, Loculicytheretta,
Orionina, Pokornyella, Trachyleberidea and Urocythereis may be cited as a few
examples of Cenozoic cytheraceans.

Fig. Abyssocythere fig. Ambocythere

Fig. Cnestocythere
Fig. Diversity of ostracoda taxa through time.
 IMPORTANCE OF OSTRACODES FOR PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Ostracods serve as an excellent paleobiogeographical markers. They are also
efficient tools for the study of paleobathymetry and paleosalinity. Hence, their
study may be extremely helpful for tracing of paleogeographic changes.

The deep sea fauna studied in the Mediterranean Province by Benson and
Sylvester-Bradley (1971) can be cited as a good example of paleogeographic
reconstruction through ostracodes. Characteristic elements of ostracodes are
found in Paleocene to Middle Miocene and in Pliocene sediments from different
areas of the Mediterranean province. In the late Miocene, the evolution of the
normal marine ostracode fauna of the Mediterranean Sea was interrupted, as this
sea was cut off from the Atlantic and transformed into a series of lagoons. Some
of these dried up, others desalinified and developed a peculiar endemic fauna.
This fauna had many elements in common with assemblages from the
contemporary Paratethyan basins. The Paratethyan basins of late Miocene and
Pliocene time were characterized by low salinities and endemic ostracode
communities. These endemics are excellent indicators of changing
communication between these basins and of their paleosalinities. At the
beginning of the Pliocene, communication between the Mediterranean and
Atlantic was re-established in the west, so that Atlantic euhaline species, even the
deep-sea psychrospheric fauna, re-invaded the Mediterranean.

As the connection between the Mediterranean Province and the Indo-Pacific

region has been interrupted since the middle Miocene, Recent Mediterranean
ostracodes are chiefly of Atlantic origin and differ substantially from their Tertiary
forerunners. Towards the end of the Tertiary the shallowing of the sill at the
Straits of Gibraltar prevented the entrance of cold deep oceanic waters into the
Mediterranean, leading to the elimination of the psychrosphere and consequently
of the psychrospheric fauna from this area. The present Mediterranean fauna is
entirely thermospheric as the temperature even at abyssal depths is near 13°C.
 CONCLUSION
Ostracods are widely used in biostratigraphy, in determining paleoenvironment of
deposition, and paleoclimate of the region. Their abundance in non-marine
sediments and usefulness in the biozonation of marine strata, especially for
petroleum exploration make them second in importance only to the foraminifera,
as micro-fossils and, to none as indicators of ancient shore-lines, salinities and
relative sea-floor depth.

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