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What do we know about Neogene bony fishes from Chile? Diversity and biogeographic implications

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Deep climatic and oceanographic transformations in the past have shaped Chile's modern marine biodiversity.However, unlike some other vertebrates and invertebrates, little is known about the past diversity of bony fishes (Osteichthytes) along this coast during the Neogene.This study aims to summarize paleontological evidence of the diversity of bony fishes in Chile, estimate the completeness of the inventories, and assess biogeographic dynamics.Our results show an inventory of 21 orders, 51 families, 67 genera, and 46 species for the Neogene.Compared to the current diversity (624 genera and 1,198 species), only 3% of the living genera and 20% of living families have fossil counterparts and a single living species has a fossil record.At a generic level, 40% are currently absent in the region, whereas 60% survived.For the genera currently absent in the region, 19% are globally extinct, and 81% are regionally extinct.The changes in the biogeographic dynamics of bony fishes from the past to the present could be related to the intense climatic and oceanographic events that took place throughout the Neogene period.The rarefaction and extrapolation analyses confirm that although the studies on the group have increased in the last years, more taxa could still be found if the sampling effort is increased.Future studies could help us to better understand the effects of climatic and oceanographic changes on the group during the Neogene of Chile.

Source: Palaeontologia Electronica

DOI: 10.26879/1385