Bivalves from the Changhsingian (Upper Permian) Bellerophon Formation of the Dolomites (Italy): ancestors of the Lower Triassic post extinction benthic communities

The diverse shallow marine fossil assemblages from the Changhsingian Bellerophon Formation of the Dolomites record the late Palaeozoic marine life immediately before the end-Permian mass extinction. Here, based on the collection of c. 6500 bivalve specimens from different localities of the western Dolomites, we have taxonomically classified 26 species, including 10 new species, 3 new genera and 1 new family: Acharax frenademezi sp. nov., Bakevellia (Bakevellia) preromangica sp. nov., Edmondia hautmanni sp. nov., Etheripecten stuflesseri sp. nov., Ladinomya fosteri gen. et sp. nov., Lovaralucina covidi gen. et sp. nov., Palaeolima badiotica sp. nov., Promytilus merlai sp. nov., Tambanella? stetteneckensis sp. nov., Volsellina carinata sp. nov., Gardenapecten gen. nov., Ladinomyidae fam. nov. The occurrence of three Eumorphotis species with a different and superimposed stratigraphic distribution led us to propose an upper Permian ‘lower Eumorphotis Zone’ in contrast to the already known L..., The bivalves for this research have been collected from the following localities: Balest, Bulla II, Culatsch, Ruf da Piz and Jmueia da Insom in Gardena Valley and from Seres and Preroman in Badia Valley. For the studied sections, the fossiliferous beds were chosen for quantitative sampling of bivalves. Each sampling was performed until more than 100 specimens were obtained or until further sampling doesn't reveal new taxa. Some beds were sampled repeatedly until well-preserved specimens of some taxa have been obtained. The samples were taken to the preparation lab and there extracted with pneumatic air pen. In total, 2360 fossil-bearing samples with 6515 specimens were collected. The minimum number of individuals (MNI) has been totaled by counting only the most numerous valves (left/right) together with the articulated specimens., Excel or Open Office