Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 39(1) 1996
Issue:
VOL 39(1) 1996
Keywords:
Biochronology, Unitary Associations, virtual associations, mammals, rodents, Miocene, western Europe
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Application of Unitary Associations to biochronological scales based on mammals: the case of Miocene rodents from some localities in western Europe
Abstract:
The method of biochronological analysis known as “Unitary Associations” was developed in the late 1970s in order to establish concurrent range zones taking virtual associations into account (e. g., synchronous species that never coexisted for ecological reasons). We have here used three successions of Miocene localities as synthetic sections. They are characteristic of the three biochronological scales currently used in western Europe. Only those rodent species common to at least two of the three successions have been considered. Besides pointing to some problems of chronology, the use of this method in continental environments in which the succession order of the localities is often inferred on the basis of evolutionary stages makes apparent some taxonomic discrepancies between authors.
