Paleoenvironmental and paleobiogeographical implications of a Middle Pleistocene mollusc assemblage from the marine terraces of Baía das Pipas, southwest Angola

Quaternary raised marine terraces containing the remains of diverse, shallow water marine invertebrate faunas are widespread across coastal Angola. These deposits and faunas have not been studied in the same detail as contemporaneous features in northwest and southernmost Africa. We analyzed the fossil assemblages and sedimentology of two closely spaced Middle Pleistocene marine terrace deposits in Baía das Pipas, southwest Angola. This revealed 46 gastropod and 29 bivalve species, along with scleractinian corals, encrusting bryozoans, polychaete tubes, barnacles, and echinoids. The fauna is characteristic of intertidal and nearshore rocky substrates and sandy soft-bottom habitats. Sedimentological analysis is consistent with faunal data and indicates an upper shoreface paleoenvironment along a gravel coast. This diverse fauna stands out as a rare example of a marine Pleistocene assemblage from over 6,000 km of the West African coast. The assemblage is dominated by tropical West African...