Book Description

Based on approximately 25,000 specimens from the Miocene and Pliocene of the Cibao Valley, northern Dominican Republic, the bivalve family Propeamussiidae is represented by two genera and four species, including two new species, Cyclopecten acuminatus and C. zalaya; the family Pectinidae is represented by three subfamilies, six tribes, 18 genera, and 35 species. New taxa in the Pectinidae include six new genera ( Interchlamys , Chagrepecten , Gurabopecten , Paraleptopecten , Zamorapecten , and Antillipecten ), 15 new species ( Caribachlamys guayubinensis , C. jungi , Mimachlamys blowi , M. vokesorum , Palliolum ? cibaoense , Argopecten parathetidis , Chagrepecten paracactaceus , Gurabopecten uniplicatus , Lindapecten baitoaensis , L. paramuscosus , Euvola gurabensis , Zamorapecten maoensis , Antillipecten janicoensis , A. microlineatus , and A. quemadosensis) , one species in open nomenclature ( Paraleptopecten sp. a ), and one new subspecies ( Argopecten eccentricus lacabrensis ). In addition, a new name, Euvola jamaicensis , replaces the name E. barretti (Woodring, 1925). Lectotypes are designated for Cyclopecten guppyi (Dall, 1898) and Cryptopecten phrygium (Dall, 1886). Four of the genera (20%) and all but four of the species (90%) in the two families are extinct. Among the Pectinidae, 60% of the species but only 5% of the genera are endemic to the northern Dominican Republic. The high species endemism is possibly an artifact due to the absence in many other regions of precisely correlative strata as well as to differences in facies and sampling methods. Assemblages of the two families change composition going upward in stratigraphic sections measured along each major river, reflecting increasing depth of deposition, changing bottom conditions, and association with coral reefs or marine grasses and algae. Evolutionary changes within particular lineages help to resolve several previous biostratigraphic uncertainties and controversies, including the age of limestones on the Río Yaque del Norte and in the Guayubín area. Detailed study of these changes has also shed new light on the causes of dramatic faunal differences between stratigraphic sections on the Río Gurabo and Río Mao, separated by only 10 km.