Article:
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Volume 485, 1 November 2017, pages 986-989.
Authors:
Speranta-Maria Popescu, Mihaela Carmen Melinte-Dobrinescu, Jean-Pierre Suc, Damien Do Couto.
Abstract:
The calcareous nannofossil Ceratolithus acutus(= C. armatus) is an important species associated with the final flooding that ended the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Mediterranean. We emphasize its robust identifying features and stratigraphic value in the global ocean. This species is particularly useful in recognising and constraining the Messinian–Zanclean boundary in the Mediterranean, as evidenced by reports from 75 localities and 20 references in addition to our own papers. Our emphasis is prompted by the assessment of Stoica et al. (2016) that Ceratolithus acutusis a “dubious” species with its lowest occurrence an “unreliable” biostratigraphic event. Such assessments by non-specialists, especially when “supported” by selective referencing of the literature warrant an explanation.