Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 38(1) 1995

Issue:

VOL 38(1) 1995

Keywords:

Mollusca, Quaternary, Central Europe, climate, environment, migration

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The influence of Quaternary climatic development on the Central European mollusc fauna

• Dietrich MANIA

Abstract:

This paper presents a brief overview of the dependence of the Central European mollusc fauna on climatic conditions and development during the Quaternary. This dependence is exemplified by the last glacial-interglacial cycle (Eem interglacial-Weichsel glacial-Holocene). From this, the basic Pleistocene molluscan faunal succession can be deduced and can be identified as far back as the Early Pleistocene. The associations of the different Middle and Late Pleistocene interglacials are qualitatively distinct through the presence of so called exotic species which currently inhabit the Mediterranean region. Their frequency decreases towards the Holocene. Thermophile, species-rich associations characterize the warm phases. Glacials are characterized by loess steppe and tundra faunas that are poor in species. During these periods, species that currently inhabit circum-polar, boreo-alpine and Central Asian areas were present in Central Europe. During the interglacial-glacial transitions, faunas of the wood steppes and tschernosem steppes appeared. The molluscan succession develops in parallel with the climatically induced successions of plants and vertebrates.