Research Data - Marine fish assemblage as proxy to reconstruct the paleoenvironment of the Lower Pliocene La Cueva Formation (34° S), Cardenal Caro Province, Chile

Data from the manuscript of Caniggia-Soria-Galvarro et al., "Marine fish assemblage as proxy to reconstruct the paleoenvironment of the Lower Pliocene La Cueva Formation (34° S), Cardenal Caro Province, Chile". The material was gathered near Las Damas at 34° S in central Chile, it corresponds to fossil fish material collected on the surface of sandstones of Pliocene La Cueva Formation. The research consists in the use of modern ecological thermal affinities of fish assemblages to calculate relative sea surface temperature for the Early Pliocene of central Chile. This is calculated according to the Community Thermal Index formula, in which only extant fishes recognized in the fossil record of the formation can be used. All fossil taxa identified in the research correspond to extant organisms. Only genera and species can be used for the calculation, as these groups have more constrained and well defined thermal and depth ranges. The CTI of the assemblage can be interpreted as the relative SST of the locality during the Early Pliocene. The results show 5-6°C warmer SST than today at the locality for the Early Pliocene.