A recent sponge,Pleroma aoteaKelly ("Order” Lithistida: Family Pleromidae), in the late Eocene Ototara Limestone of Otago, New Zealand

Abstract

Pleroma aotea Kelly ("Order" Lithistida: Family Pleromidae) from deep-water seamounts and banks off northeastern New Zealand, and are significant in that they represent a stratigraphic range for the species of more than 35 million years. The presentday distribution of P. aotea, limited to silica-rich deeper waters, is in marked contrast to the relatively shallow warm water volcanic environments occupied during the Palaeogene. This restriction, and that of related lithistid sponges to silica-rich deeper waters off northern New Zealand, is paralleled in other demosponges and several calcareous invertebrate groups such as barnacles, bryozoans, and crinoids.

First record of the genus Vetulina Schmidt, 1879 (Porifera: Demospongiae: Sphaerocladina) from the Indian Ocean with the description of two new species: biogeographic and evolutionary significance

“…Lévi (1960) considered a possible affinity of Vetulina with Crambe (Poecilosclerida: Crambeidae) due to the fact that both possess sphaeroclonar desmas. Kelly et al (2003) found that the desmas of the fossil species V. oamaruensis Hinde and Holmes (1892) resembled the desmas of a species of Crambe from northern New Zealand, suggesting conspecifity. We consider the affinity of desmas between these two genera to be the result of convergence, as molecular studies have indicated that Crambe is very distant from Vetulina (Schuster et al 2015).…”

A shallow, warm-water calcitic molluscan fauna from an Early Oligocene seamount, North Otago, New Zealand

“…The most common bioclasts are bryozoan fragments. Fossil-rich beds are common, containing whole brachiopods (Gage 1957), bivalve molluscs (Beu & Maxwell 1990), larger bryozoan fragments (Brown 1952), echinoderms, serpulids, octocorals, barnacles (Buckeridge 1983), lithistid sponges (Kelly et al 2003), whale bones (Fordyce 1980), penguin bones (Fordyce & Jones 1990), foraminifera (Gage 1957;Hornibrook 1961;Edwards et al 1991), ostracodes (Edwards et al 1991) and rhodoliths (Lee et al 1997). The Oamaru Diatomite, a member of the Ototara Limestone, has an exceedingly rich diatom fauna (Edwards et al 1991).…”

Globally Discordant Isocrinida (Crinoidea) Migration Confirms Asynchronous Marine Mesozoic Revolution

“…Antarctic isocrinids were collected with detailed sedimentological information, enabling accurate environmental and temporal placement. In addition to previously described fossil occurrences [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] , this substantial new body of data indicates that the Southern Hemisphere was an important shallow water isocrinid province during the Paleogene. The data presented herein provides conclusive evidence that the migration of stalked isocrinids from shallow to deep water did not occur at the same time all over the world.…”

“…3 Distribution of shallow marine stalked crinoids in the Cenozoic of the Southern Hemisphere. Newly discovered and described fossils along with those previously described from Antarctica [32][33][34][35][36] , New Zealand [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46] , South America 47 , and Australia 48 33 Rasmussen 1979 32 Zinsmeister et al 1989 36 Malumian & Olivero 2005 47 Eagle 2004 39 Eagle 1993 37 Feldmann & Maxwell 1990 45 Stilwell et al 1994 38 This study…”

“…This led to the suggestion that predation intensity during the Mesozoic was not the only factor controlling the presence or absence of stalked forms in shallow and deep water environments 22 and the off-shore displacement of isocrinids was a gradual process that occurred later than previously supposed 9 . Isolated occurrences of Cenozoic stalked isocrinids from Antarctica [32][33][34][35][36] , New Zealand [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46] , South America 47 , and Australia 48 , have also been described from shallow water deposits. Explanations for the South American and Antarctic occurrences have focused on a hypothetical reversion to Palaeozoic type communities in response to environmental perturbations 35,47,49 .…”